


Piper's Marvelous Adventures

by LEC743



Category: Marvel
Genre: #Humor, #Marvel - Freeform, #adventure, #fanfiction, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2020-01-24 00:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 106,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18560539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LEC743/pseuds/LEC743
Summary: Piper Thatcher, once a normal teen who just loves Marvel's comic books finds herself within the Marvel Comic Universe. With no way back home, how will she live in the world she knows and loves so much? Will she collapse with the weight of the danger? Will she find love or will she chose to love at all? Find out all your wish fulfillment right here at Piper's Marvelous Adventures!





	1. From the Unknown

Saint Olga's Orphanage is a small and old but well-kept, brown brick, building in down town Kansas City, Kansas. Currently the residents of the orphanage are preparing for bed, with the sounds of protesting children and exasperated adults and older kids. Twilight was giving into darkness when a short, brown haired teenage girl walked through the rickety front door after a hard day at ballet class.

"I'm home!" Piper called out.

Various people who had the time to acknowledge her presence greeted her warmly.

"How was ballet," asked Daisy, the head caretaker of Saint Olga, as she wrestled with a three-year-old boy to put on his night pants, "Learn anything new?"

"Oh, nothing new but it was especially brutal today." Piper answered with a tired smile.

Then Piper squatted down on tip-toe to be level with the struggling tike on the floor.

"So, what's the trouble Trouper?"

"Piper!" Squealed the little doe-eyed boy.

"Come on now Tom. You've got to get your pants on so you can get some sleep," Piper chided.

"I want to stay awake though," pleaded Tom.

"You can do that when you become taller than me." Piper leans in closer to Tom. "And just between you and me, that won't be for much longer," she said with a wink.

Tom giggled as Daisy got his night pants on and stood him back on his feet. Then Daisy proceeded to guide Tom to his shared bedroom.

"Goo' night Piper."

"The showers are free Piper," Daisy told Piper over her shoulder.

"Thanks, and good night to you too Tom."

After saying goodnight to everyone and taking another cold shower, Piper found that she was alone in her shared bedroom and decided to savor the moment. Piper's bed held an old red teddy bear her grandmother gave her when she was six. Her large collection of marvel comic books were stacked high around her bed with an old IPod on top of one of the piles of comic books. Piper could hear the TV blaring from the living room with the shuffling of feet downstairs.

Closing the door behind her Piper walked over to her bed, sat her flip phone, wallet, and ballet shoes at the foot of her bed and pulled out a new Avenger's Comic that she bought that day. She picked up and plugged in her headphones, on her Ipod, to tune out the noises down stairs and fell backwards onto her bed. The comic was called The Avengers #23 From the Unknown. The cover art was a picture of your typical science portal glowing blueish colors and a dark human figure silhouetted inside it. In the forefront were the backs of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Hank Pym facing the silhouetted figure in the portal.

# # #

_The tech lab was full of charred metal, unfinished bits of machinery, and black explosion marks on the ceiling and walls. Bruce Banner and Hank Pym walked into Tony Stark's Tech lab as Tony was tinkering on a giant metal "O" in a cleared-out area of his lab. Tony was covered in grease stains, coffee, and determination._

_Tony greeted his fellow scientist. "Ah! Gentlemen, glad you could make it. I'm about to test out my latest version of the Stark Portal."_

_"So, this is what you wanted to show us Stark," Dr. Pym inquired staring at the portal. "It's impressive."_

_"How long has it been since you've last slept," questioned Dr. Banner as he took notice of the several disposable coffee cups around the area._

_"Not important. Right now, I'm in the midst of evolutionary travel," Tony remarked as he threw down his wrench, "Now follow me behind my explosive durable clear wall. I'm going to turn this bad boy on."_

_The two-scientist followed Tony. Remote in hand, Tony pressed a button and the machine started to hum. A light blue glow started to emit from the center of the "O"._

_# # #_

Piper was starting to feel a draft in her room and was confused because she knew the door was closed. Looking around her bedroom door was a light blue glow. Thinking it was one of the kids poking a toy under the door Piper decided to ignore it.

# # #

_A gentle wherring sound reverberated throughout the tech. lab, like a large fan was on._

_"It's looking good, Tony!" Dr. Banner yelled over the engine noise._

_"Are you using an Arc Reactor to power it!?" Shouted Dr. Pym._

_"Yep. I've been having troubles with stabilizing the machine with the reactor so it doesn't explode. So far, it's doing great. It would have exploded by now." Tony replied over the growing noise of the portal's engine._

_# # #_

The breeze was becoming stronger in Piper's room and she turned away from her comic to see that the blue light was becoming bigger. Keeping an eye on the light Piper got up slowly, then she folded her headphone around her IPod and placed it in the breast pocket of her night shirt. Then Piper grabbed her flip phone and walked over to the light with her comic still in hand. Cautiously Piper looked to her comic and back to the light. At first, she hesitated then she called Joy's, Piper's best friend, cell phone and proceeded to read the comic.

# # #

_"Tony, I think we should turn it off," admonished Dr. Pym, "We don't want it exploding with such force."_

_"Don't worry so much, Hank. We're perfectly safe. I had this thing Hulk tested." Tony reassured his colleagues while casually beating the clear wall with the side of his fist._

_Tony continued to push the portal machine to its maximum strength. The turbulence in the lab was becoming extreme as tools, metal parts and disposable cups were flying around. The Stark Portal was humming away and almost fully formed._

_"Almost. There." Gritted Tony._

_After one last push of a button, the humming had stopped and the portal had formed fully._

_# # #_

You have reached Joy. I am unavailable right now; please leave a message after the beep.  **Beep.**

"Yah, Joy. This is Piper. Just wanted to say that I found something weird and it would be hard to explain so I'll tell you about it later. See you." Piper told the answering machine.

The wind whipped at her short brown hair as the fully formed blue "O" glowed in front of her bedroom door. Tossing her comic aside Piper placed her phone with her IPod and took a deep breath. Then she walked into the light.

# # #

"Ha, ha! Yes! I've finally figured out the amount of power input my new baby can take," cheered Tony.

"You should celebrate by going to sleep," Dr. Banner suggested.

"Hey, do you see that," Dr. Pym asked while pointed at the portal.

The three men saw a dark humanoid silhouette within the blue light. Next thing they knew the emergency sirens were going off. The machine was starting to go haywire.

"Tooooneeeeeey!" Dr. Pym shouted with unease.

"I think I see someone in the portal Stark," Yelled Dr. Banner.

"What!? No! It's not ready for people to enter it yet. I haven't made an exit portal," Tony stated horrified as he tried to shut down his portal.

The machine was shaking violently and coming apart. The light was starting to fade but the silhouette was getting stronger.

"Guys, the emergency shut down system is dead! Get down!" Shouted Tony.

The three-scientist hunkered down behind the clear wall as the machine continued to degrade. Finally, whatever it was, passed through the portal. The three men looked up to see a confused looking teenage girl in floral pajamas. In a panic the three of them tried to get her attention to run over to them but she couldn't hear.

"This is ridiculous. I'm getting her," Dr. Banner yelled.

Just as he was about to leave from behind the clear wall the machine made a god-awful noise followed by an explosion. Huge chunks of shrapnel went everywhere and finally the portal machine had shut down. The three men ran over to the wreckage to look for the teen.

"Oh God! Do you think she's even alive?" Fretted Dr. Pym as the smoke cleared.

"She was so close to the explosion. It'll be a miracle if she is alive," replied Tony as he shuffled through the debris.

"Guy's I see her!" Dr. Banner called to them, "Give me a hand!"

# # #

Piper, feeling sore, slowly woke up, lying in a bed on her back. Opening her eyes, she felt like she's been out for a while as she looked around the gray lit room. She knew she wasn't in a hospital since everything would be whiter and she would hear hospital noises outside the door. Maybe it's a new type of hospital? It certainly was a fancy place with wood floors and a small chandelier in the middle of the ceiling and a giant curtain that was covering a large window that is also a wall and fancy carved furniture.

There was a glass of water on the bed side table. Reaching for it she finally noticed the gauze wrappings on her arms and felt the rest of them on her back, torso, and legs.

"Oh, that's right. There was an explosion," Piper said to herself.

She took a small sip of water and slowly got into a sitting position to look at her bandages under her nightgown. Every slight movement hurt as Piper looked over herself. She notice that the pajamas she was wearing weren't her own, they were nicer and felt like silk. Realizing this made her conclude that complete strangers have seen her naked. Not the greatest thing to think about. She hoped that who ever saw her naked weren't creepy.

Finishing her self-examination, Piper got out of the bed and she could feel her entire body start to slightly tear like scabs on an elbow or knee would. Piper took a minute to steady herself, then she forced her bandaged body to shuffle over to the curtained window and pulled it open. The sun was shining beautifully in a cloudless blue sky over a city of skyscrapers, business buildings, and bustling people, with what looked like the occasional flying human being.

"Which city am I in?" Piper asked aloud.

Piper would have stood there all day looking out the window if she hadn't been interrupted by sounds outside the bedroom door and someone coming in.

"Ah, your finally awake, good." Stated a man's voice.

Piper turned away from the view to see a tan man with a blue turban covering his dark hair wearing a snappy brown suit and holding a black suitcase. He held a sincere smile on his lips, but Piper was uncomfortable with the strange man anyway.

"Hello miss, I am Dr. Bava. I've been takin' care of you and your burns since you've been here. Mind coming over here so I can reapply this burn ointment." Dr. Bava stated as he got out his equipment and showed Piper the burn ointment bottle.

Piper was silent for a moment then replied, "Can you first show me where the bathroom is?"

# # #

"And there we go. Fully ointment-ed and wrapped up," Dr. Bava stated as he finished wrapping Pipers left arm, "Now hold still as I give you this tetanus shot."

"Okay," Piper said as she looked away from the needle.

"There you go," Dr. Bava said as he finished giving Piper her shot, "You are one lucky girl. You sustained third degree burns, from that explosion Mr. Stark told me about, but you're healing beautiful. You even managed to sustained no shrapnel wounds at all. To bad you'll have deep scaring from this."

Piper looked at Dr. Bava, unbelieving of the name, "Mr. Stark?"

"Yes, he's the man paying me to keep you healthy. I think it was very kind of him to let you stay here and I'm sure he has lots of questions to ask of you now that you're awake," He said as he put away his doctor supplies.

"…So where's my stuff?" Piper asked, hoping she didn't lose the flip phone her Grandmother gave her before she died.

"Oh, you'll have to ask Mr. Stark when he gets here. You've been out cold for seven day's so the man is very eager to talk with you," Dr. Bava replied as he sat his suitcase on his lap.

Piper did not know how to process this information. She didn't have long to think before the door to the bedroom flew open. A dark-haired man with a scruffy, half shaved beard who looked in his late thirties and dressed like he just got back from a very expensive business meeting strutted into the room. Trailing behind him was a tall woman with red-ish, bronze hair also dressed in a business savvy suit, and was also holding a holo-clipboard.

"Good afternoon. This is my personal assistant Pepper Potts and I am Tony Stark. I'm sure you've heard of me," Mr. Stark said confidently and posed dramatically. Ms. Pott rolled her eyes at his dramatic entrance.

"No. I haven't." Piper lied. "But don't worry, you don't know who I am either." Even though she was acting calm on the outside, Piper was fangirl-ing hard on the inside.

"…Oh. Well, have you heard of Iron Man?" Tony asked, slightly put out by Piper's answer.

Piper shook her head. "Sorry. My name is Piper Thatcher by the way." After she finished her internal fangirl-ing, Piper firmly ingraining into herself that she will never tell any of these people that they are watched across dimensions by people who enjoy their suffering and victories, cause who wants to know that shit.

"Where do you live, under a rock?" Tony asked looking hurt.

"Tony!" Ms. Potts exclaimed.

Standing up from the bed he was sitting on with Piper, Dr. Bava patted Piper on the head and walked out of the following conversation.

"No. I live in Kansas City," Piper replied while pointing a thumb over her shoulder.

"Oh, you poor thing. You're so far away from home and your parents must be worried sick," Ms. Potts cooed at Piper.

"Ma'am. How old do you think I am?" Piper asked in a deadpan tone of voice.

"Twelve?" Ms. Potts tentatively answered.

"I'm actually seventeen Ma'am." Piper replied still in a deadpan tone.

"Oh," Ms. Potts squeaked, "I'm sorry."

"And you've never heard of Iron Man or Tony Stark? Billionaire, philanthropist, defender of Earth, the Avenger?" Tony probed.

"Hey, I don't think walking through a blue light requires avenging and what is that in your hands Ma'am. It's kind of disorienting me," Piper said trying to hint at the idea that she wasn't from this dimension.

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "Okay, we are getting off topic of why we are here. You said you came here from Kansas City. Do you know where you are?"

"The Doc said we're in New York City," Piper replied as she pointed in the direction that Dr. Bava left.

"That's right. You're the first person to enter though the portal that I made. What can you tell me about how you felt when you walked through it?" Tony asked.

"Well it felt like I was walking through a lot of electricity. It didn't hurt or anything it just gave me a ticklish feeling in the pit of my stomach," Piper replied as she struggled to remember her walk through the portal.

"Anything else?" Tony asked.

"Nope, nothing else," Piper shrugged.

"Did you get that JARVIS?" Tony asked aloud.

"Recorded, Sir," JARVIS's synthetic voice replied.

Piper started to fangirl internally again.

"Alright, then you tell Ms. Potts here where in Kansas City you live and we'll send you straight home," Tony replied as he started to leave.

"Oh, does that mean you've fixed the portal?" Piper asked, once again trying to get across subtly that she's not from this dimension.

"No, no. The portal's still down. You'll have to go back the old-fashioned way. Don't worry though, we'll pay for your flight back and escort you home. Once you've healed of course." Tony replied before fully exiting the bedroom.

"I'll get your stuff so you can call your parents," Ms. Potts stated. Then she left the room.

Piper didn't know what to do. She had to make it obvious that she wasn't from this dimension but she didn't want to destroy these people's lives by telling them that they're a form of entertainment from where she lived. Now that she was thinking about it, being in this universe means that she is also a form of entertainment through her pain and success. She felt a sudden sense of depression, but was quickly distracted by the distant sirens and screaming from down below.

She shuffled over to the window as quickly as she could and looked down. Stories below she could see people running away from a giant figure in the crowd. Then she got a stupid idea. She knew it was stupid but she had to reinforce to these people here that she was not from this dimension. All those years of lying and acting when she was a child will finally pay off. Piper took off towards the danger down below.

# # #

The streets were decimated, a water hydrant a block away was gushing water, street lamps were bent or torn away and a few parked cars were turned over. Police were quarantining the area as Piper walked out of the grand building of Stark Tower onto the streets.

She thought to herself how stupid she was being for leaving the safety of Stark Tower but she knew if she could pull this off she'll be able to go to her proper home and not an alternate dimension home.

Piper looked around for the person who was doing the property damage. It was strangely quiet when a giant gray rhino man burst through a building wall across from her. She gulped down any sudden regrets she felt and proceeded with the plan.

"Woo! That was fantastic! But, uh, was that legal?" Piper shouted at the Rhino.

From a distance Piper could hear the policemen shouting at her as Piper started to slowly walking over to the Rhino as he focused his sights on her.

"Legal? I don't care about legal! I want my pretty diamonds back," Roared the Rhino before he charged at Piper.

A minute before the Rhino could run her over Piper jumped to the side knowing that the Rhino couldn't make turns when he charged like that. She landed on her stomach and was engulfed with pain as she felt some of the burn scabs tare. She got up and saw that the Rhino had barreled through what was left of the entrance of Stark Tower.

"What are you trying to do! Get yourself killed!" Shouted some young man's voice from above.

Looking up Piper saw a man wearing a red and blue spider themed suit squatting on top of a bent lamp post holding a large web sack. It took every ounce in Piper's body not to fangirl right then and there. Instead she decided to reply with sarcasm at Spider-Man.

"Oh wow! Fantastic sleuthing their detective. That is  _exactly_  what I was trying to do," Piper shouted at Spider-man.

The Rhino burst through the same building making a new exit. "Damn you Spider-Man! I want my diamonds back!" Then he started charging at Piper again.

"Hey! Watch out," Spider-Man shouted as he slung a web above and dove down to scoop up Piper before Rhino could crash into her.

Spider-Man swung Piper a block away from where Rhino was and hid her among some rubble. "Stay there and don't move."

Piper nodded.

She heard Spider-Man from a distance shout taunts at the Rhino and the Rhino yelling back in anger. Piper heard small jets and had to look over the rubble to see Iron Man and Spider-Man taking on the Rhino. Iron man shot repulsor beams from his hands at the Rhino as he charged Spider-Man. Jumping out of the way Spider-Man ran sideways on a building, flinging webbing at the Rhino's feet. Then while the Rhino was distracted Iron Man tackled him from behind to get him to the ground so Spider-Man could cover him more with webbing. Finally, Iron Man super punched the Rhino in the head with double repulsor beams making the Rhino pass out.

Iron Man and Spider-Man were talking to each other like old colleagues as policemen arrive and were backing up a containment unite for the Rhino. Piper walked up to the two superheroes.

"Oh God, you're bleeding profusely. We need to get you to a hospital," Spider-Man said noticing Piper first.

"Ms. Thatcher, what are you doing down here?" Stark flipping his face mask up in surprise.

"Hold it, hold it, hold it. First of all, what is all this? Is this why you call yourself Iron Man, because you have a metal suit?" Piper knocked on his metal suit. "Are you sure I've been passed out for seven days because last time I checked we aren't technically advanced enough for this sort of shit. And you, spider boy—"

"—It's Spider- _Man_  good citizen."

"Whatever. How the hell were you able to run along that building like that? And This!" Gesturing to the Rhino. "Is this some kind of bad guy!? Why is he a walking, talking, Rhino? Now I know Kansas City isn't anything like New York but I'm for god damn sure that shit like this just doesn't happen. I mean, I know I just witnessed it but— You know— Ugh, I'm so confused." Then she covered her face with her hands.

As Piper stood their bleeding she hoped that she was convincing enough to get the idea across that she was not from this plain of existence.

"Oh no." Iron Man gasped. "Ms. Thatcher, I am so sorry. We'll have to discuss this more later, but we really should call Dr. Bava.

Just as Piper was mentally celebrating her success the Rhino had gained consciousness and suddenly ripped himself from Spider-Man's webbing screaming. Surprising everyone especially Piper. In her surprise Piper unconsciously punched the Rhino as hard as she could in his gut. Which was extremely hard, as the Rhino was sent flying through the air and into a building, who then passed out again.

Everyone turned to Piper as she stared at what she just did.

"Did I— Did I just—" Then Piper fainted from blood loss.


	2. Dance of Death Game Show

It had been over a month since Piper had fainted from blood loss after knocking out the Rhino. Dr. Bava was horrified by what she did to herself and demanded Piper to stay inside until she had healed thoroughly. Through all that time Mr. Stark and his science friends have been doing small experiments. Asking for DNA samples from Piper and giving her "small" objects to lift to test her strength and asking her about where she lived, now knowing that she's from another dimension. Since Piper has almost fully healed, with only small scabs covering her back, arms, legs the Avengers team thought it would be a great idea to test her strength in comparison to Thor, since Banner wasn't interested in releasing Hulk.

Piper was staring at her surroundings as she was there before Thor had arrived. The room was large with various lifting equipment like a dead lift area, squat rack, press bench and so on but the weights went from normal to abnormally large. In all four corners of the room were speakers which were connected wirelessly to the only area with a window, the observation room. Currently occupied by Mr. Stark, Dr. Pym, Dr. Banner, Mr. Rogers and Ms. Van Dyne. With a sliding door underneath the observation room that seamlessly blends in with the surrounding area.

Piper's interactions with this universe's Avenger team has been primarily limited to the science side of the team. She didn't mind it too much however since she knows herself well enough to know that she would probably fangirl super hard if she was introduced to everyone at once and would probably have to explain herself. As Piper and the small company in the observation deck waited around for Thor, Piper decided to do some basic ballet stretches while listening in on the conversation in the observation room, as the speakers were on.

"Stark, is this such a great idea? She could get hurt with Thor," Steve, the man with the military cut blond hair and American beauty looks commented.

"Relax Cap. Thor knows how to be gentle and besides all those tests we had her do hints that she could possibly hold her own against the Hulk," Tony replied casually.

"We have no plans of testing that theory however," Bruce said with a crisp note.

"Kill joy," Tony playfully pouted.

Steve rolled his eyes in annoyance.

A short, gangly, brunette haired woman with a look in her eye that made you think she is always up to something waved at Piper with a smile. Piper saw and waved lightly back then continued her stretching.

"It's amazing," Janet stated, "A human being. Just like us, but from a life completely unlike ours. No superhero's, no supervillains, and no intergalactic threats exists in her dimension. It sounds almost peaceful."

"Maybe so, Ms. Van Dyne, but humans can't live without suffering in some form," came Hank's sober reply.

"Speaking of suffering in some form— Have you got the DNA test back yet Hank?" Stark asked.

Dr. Pym sighed, "Stark, DNA tests take time and we want to be extra thorough with Ms. Thatcher's since we don't know what differences we will find," Dr. Pym stated firmly.

"So… How much longer then?" Stark asked again.

Hank rubbed his eyes, "About a week and a half."

There was a jubilant racket coming from behind the closed door underneath the observation room. Then before the door could be busted open it slides aside to reveal the God of Thunder in all of his shinny armor glory. Minus the red cape and winged metal helmet and Mjolnir. Piper was a bit disappointed that she wasn't going to meet Mjolnir yet as she stopped her stretching to properly introduce herself.

"You're late Thor," Bruce stated with a smile.

"Good afternoon Thor," Janet greeted.

"Why are you so late!?" Called out Steve.

"Ah! Friends! I'm glad most of you could make it. I've been trying out this new Midgardian hair treatment Nat suggested to me. It takes up most of my morning but I am enjoying how soft it makes my hair feel," He said as he floofed up his shoulder length hair.

Then to show off more of his golden locks Thor shook his head like a dog would shake off water. Piper couldn't help but smile and giggle a bit.

"You must be Ms. Thatcher. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Thor proclaimed as he walked over to her and shook Piper's hand exuberantly. Making her feel like her whole body was vibrating. "You and I have a lot in common."

"Really? How?" Piper asked genuinely curious.

Thor released her hand, "We're both from different worlds.

Piper gave a short laugh, "I suppose you're right about that."

"How do you like a little competition?" Thor suggested.

"It depends on what the stakes are," Piper replied.

Thor took a moment to think of something.

"How about a trade of information? If I win, you have to show me something new about Midgard culture. If you win, I'll show you something of Asgardian culture. Deal?"

"Oh, you are so on. I suggest a press bench weight lifting contest." She replied while pointing to the stated area.

"Agreed. Since you're new to this. We'll start at ten tons to warm us up." Thor suggested then walked over to the press bench area.

Piper could only give a nervous laugh.

"Welp, this is going to be fun," Tony stated, "Who wants to start placing bets?"

# # #

Janet and Steve lost the bet that Piper couldn't make it past thirty tons as Bruce, Tony and Hank bet she'll make it to eighty or to a hundred-ton lift. Piper and Thor had just finished doing a press up of fifty tons when the building was setting off an emergency alarm. Piper couldn't help but be relieved as she was starting to feel the strain. A holographic sounding voice could be heard over the alarms.

" _Sir, there seems to be a giant mass reading hovering over Central Park,_ " JARVIS informed them.

"Thanks JARVIS," Tony switched to an intercom on his wrist. "Avengers, assemble at Central Park."

Before the teams could leave the room to go suit up Dr. Banner suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light. After seeing this Piper reached for Thor and without thinking grabbed him by the arm before another flash of white light took him. Accompanied with Piper.

# # #

It was silent. Thor and Piper were standing in a small clearing surrounded by thick, foreign vegetation. Piper didn't think to let go of Thor's arm. The two of them scanned the area with caution. It was bright wherever they were but it wasn't sunlight. Thor walked forward with weary confidence. Piper decided to let go of his arm and instead keep a hand on his back as they walked through the foliage.

With Thor looking forward Piper kept an eye behind them until the two of them came upon a waterfall and a large lake surrounded by strangely beautiful, multi-colored flowers. With a better view of the sky, it was clear that it was actually a dome. Small looking birds could be seen zipping by on their own from above.

"Well, where ever we are it sure looks pretty here," Piper said breaking the silence.

"Looks can be deceiving," Thor replied while still scanning the area.

In the distance the two of them heard a deep throated roar.

"It's Hulk!" Thor smiled with mischief. "He's having all the fun."

Above Piper heard the sound of glass shattering and saw Mjolnir fly into Thor's hand.

"Come, Piper! My little friend. I'll show you what—"

Suddenly Thor was hit in the back of the neck with something. Making him fall forward on his knees. Piper saw on the back of Thor's neck was some sort of mechanical bug thing that looked like a leech. She was about to pull it off when she felt her neck split open to form a whole that allowed another mechanical bug to go right through her. Then her neck went back to normal. Panicked, Piper held her neck with both her hands and stomped on the mechanical leech thing, breaking it. Suddenly, Thor got back up on his feet.

When Piper looked up at Thor, Piper could see that Thor's smile was gone. His face was contorted into rage and his eyes looked empty.

"Thor?" Piper tentatively questioned.

Piper was answered with a blow to the face from Mjolnir. Sending her cartwheeling backwards into the dense greenery that slowed her down. She laid face down in the dirt. Broken plants were in her wake as she felt blood coming from her nose and mouth. Piper heard helicopter noises as he looked up, it was Thor flying down to her with his hammer. Behind him Piper could see what looked like a flying camcorder. Thor was readying for another swing and Piper was too dazed to be able to do anything when they both heard Hulk roar again. Thor froze for a second then flew away with the camcorder following him.

Piper gave a heavy sigh of relief not knowing she was holding her breath. She staggered back on to her feet and braced herself against an alien tree. She watched the blood from her nose drip to the ground, not caring to wipe it away. She was thinking to herself that Thor, Hulk, herself and whoever else was here, are in some kind of dome arena place. Then Piper thought that Hulk probably has one of those metal leeches on him too, all the while they are being followed by cameras.

"God damn it! This is the Grandmaster's doing," Piper said out loud.

# # #

A megaphone was projecting a flamboyant voice throughout New York City from the center of Central Park. Floating in the air was a giant dome about as large as the Central Park Lake. On all four sides hung holographic videos of what was going on inside the dome. Any video based electronics were also being interfered with to show what was happening inside the Dome. About eight people were fighting; three women and five men. Civilians were starting to gather around the Dome to watch or were standing aimlessly in the streets as they stared at their phones all the while superheroes started to show up in Central Park. The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Power Man, and Iron Fist all showed up.

"Come one! Come all!" Called out the flamboyant Grandmaster, "To the Dance of Death Game Show. Hosted by yours truly, The Grandmaster. Here you will get to see Earth's Toughest and Roughest competitors compete to the death until four are left. They will then compete against themselves in tag team duels."

The group of heroes spotted a rather tall man on a floating pedestal with white spiky hair. Who was gesturing wildly as he spoke to the growing crowd. Iron Man took this time to address his fellow super colleagues.

"Alright Everyone! We'll get into groups of two and attack from all sides."

"Captain America, Invisible Woman, Spider-Man, and Hawkeye," Mister Fantastic shouted, "You four will focus on civilian safety."

The four of them nodded and proceeded to get the innocents out of the way.

"Everybody else find a partner!" Iron Man yelled. "The rest of us will distract the Grandmaster while Human Torch and Wasp find a way into the dome."

Iron Man flew off with Mister Fantastic to the east side of the dome. Ant-Man and The Thing went to the west side. Iron Fist and Black Panther went to the south. Power Man and Black Widow went north to attack the Grandmaster head on while Wasp and Human Torch started to survey the dome. This didn't go unnoticed by the Grandmaster.

"Oops. It looks like we have some uninvited guests. Security! Will you be a dear and kick them out," the Grandmaster shouted while pushing a button on his floating pedestal.

Out of the dome flew toddler sized, round robots with guns popping out from inside them that started shooting lasers.

"For those of you Earthlings who think that I would keep this show only to the Sol System," the Grandmaster stated to the startled crowd, "Fear not. For I am broadcasting to all parts of the Universe so everyone can have a grand old time watching The Dance of Death."

The Grandmaster then dodged a flying Black Widow who was thrown at him by Power Man. Black Widow used a grappling hook to grab onto the flying pedestal as she was falling down. Power Man caught Black Widow and proceeded to pull down the flying pedestal the Grandmaster was on.

"Oh and don't mind the ruffians." The Grandmaster nonchalantly stated to the panicking crowd while pressing a button that made a laser appear that cut the grappling hook wire. "I'll have them dealt with as soon as possible."

# # #

In a thick alien jungle like terrain you would think it would be hard to find someone in it. Fortunately for Piper all she had to do was follow the sounds of turmoil in the distance to find the fighting. Just when she thought she was left behind again by the fight a woman in a black suit with a yellow lightning bolt on her chest and a red sash tied around her waist was sent careening over Piper's head and crash landed into a self-made crater. Piper recognized her as Ms. Marvel. Before Piper could think if she was okay, Ms. Marvel popped back up and flew back into the fray. Piper ran in the direction she flew.

While hiding in the foliage what Piper saw amazed her and horrified her at the same time. Ms. Marvel was fighting against the Abomination who in person is a lot larger than Piper imagined, even next to the Hulk. Thor was fighting the mutant Juggernaut who was in dome head attire. Hulk was fighting Wolverine an old classic showdown. Finally there was Lady Deathstrike with her crazy growing sharp nails fighting Typhoid Mary a telekinetic, pyrokinetic who has multiple personality disorder.

As far as Piper could tell they all had metal leeches attached to them making them fight like ragging savages. Having very little idea as to how to proceed with taking the little electronic parasites off them with very little fighting experiences Piper could only hide and watch. It didn't last long as Typhoid Mary caught Lady Deathstrike in her telekinetic grip and threw her at where Piper was hiding. Piper had her breath knocked out of her but Lady Deathstrike retaliated by picking up Piper and throwing her at Typhoid Mary.

Typhoid Mary laughed manically as she used her powers to push Piper up and over her. As soon as Piper hit the ground she scrambled to her feet to get out from underneath the Abomination's feet as he fought Ms. Marvel. Running away Piper got into the middle of Hulk's and Wolverine's fight. She failed to dodge Wolverine slashes with his claws as Piper fell backwards on her back with freshly ripped clothes but not a scratch on her. Then she heard the dreaded battle cry of Hulk's catch phrase as Piper was right at his feet.

"Hulk…!" Piper scrunched up preparing herself for death. "SMASH!"

A dirt cloud filled the air.

# # #

The crowd gasped at the video screens. The superheroes didn't notice at first as they had to see it on the replay. Except for the Human Torch and Wasp. Wasp let out a little scream and Human Torch was frozen with shock at the sight.

"Ooo, lest see that replay," The Grandmaster demanded as he pushed another button on his pedestal.

It replayed Piper being crushed by Hulks fists. Then again but in slow motion. Then once more in triple slow motion. Then one last time with a farting noise affect as Hulks fist flattened Piper in regular slow motion.

"That kids. Is why you should never sneak into a death arena." The Grandmaster warned the crowd.

With a renewed fire, the joined superheroes were fighting even harder to save the people inside and get the other civilians to safety. As a shrunken version of herself Wasp managed to find an almost patched up whole in the dome created by Thor's hammer.

"Human Torch I found an entrance over here. It's almost fully closed. I'm going in on ahead." Wasp shouted through their shared comm. radio.

"Right behind yah sister," Human Torch replied as he found her before she went through the hole.

Once he knew she was far enough away the Human Torch started blasting fire at the hole to melt it bigger.

Still small, Wasp flew over to the fighting. She surveyed the area while in the air and noticed the metal leeches on some of the people with her magnifying goggles. Then she noticed the Hulk grabbed Wolverine and he looked like he was about to tear the guy in half.

"Don't worry guy's! I'm coming for you!" Wasp Shouted.

Wasp was about to dive bomb into the fight and sting off the metal parasites with her electric wasp stings when she saw something odd. As Hulk was holding Wolverine a white goo crawled over his shoulder, down his arms and surrounded Wolverine. Then the Hulk just let him go as the white goo covered Wolverine. After a couple of seconds the goo retracted and Wolverine was rubbing at where the metal leach had been, between his shoulders at the base of his neck. The goo formed a corporeal form that Wasp instantly recognized and flew down to hug Piper.

"Oh my God you're alive! We all saw you get crushed by the Hulk," Wasp cried.

Piper was completely gooey, with her clothes missing, where her eyes and mouth should be were just black, gaping holes and only the slight telling of a human female figure.

"Yah, it wasn't very pleasant, but we can talk about that later. We've got superheroes to help and supervillains to deal with." Piper said with a watery voice.

"Right! Let's do this." Wasp agreed and flew off to help sting the metal leeches off of Thor and Ms. Marvel.

Hulk went over to go restrain the Abomination and Wolverine went to help take down the Juggernaut. Piper slithered over to the dueling Lady Deathstrike and Typhoid Mary. Going for Lady Deathstrike first she flattened herself down then got close enough to the point that Lady Deathstrike stepped on her. Piper then crept up her legs and searched for the metal leech. After dislodging it from the small of her back Piper left Lady Deathstrike in her daze and went to help out Typhoid Mary with the same trick.

After all the metal leeches were removed and more superheroes were starting to show up from the outside Piper decided to hang back with the still dazed Lady Deathstrike and Typhoid Mary. Since Piper didn't know how she could be of any more use. She watched as Lady Deathstrike came back to her senses, noticed that Wolverine was there, and proceeded to attacking him. Typhoid Mary remained pretty chill as she and Piper watched everybody fight each other.

Suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake and slant forward. There was a big enough hole in the dome above that Piper could hear the Grandmaster speaker voice.

"Oh, you destroyed my hover engines! Now I have to cancel the show. You know what, you guys can keep this arena. It's not even the best one that I own. Ta, ta my pretties!" Grandmaster stated.

Piper could only assume that the Grandmaster had finally decided to leave. Then the dome crashed into the ground flinging everyone into the air. Then the fighting resumed. It took the rest of the day to finally cage up all of the supervillains. With all the supervillains finally locked up Iron Man banging on the back of one of the mutant villain transfer trucks before they drove away. Through all this time Piper still hasn't reverted back to normal form.

Hulk and Thor walked over to Piper.

"I… am sorry. Piper," Hulk said.

"As well as am I," Thor said.

Piper began to solidify back to normal as she smiled up at the two of them, "Apology accepted."

Thor and Hulk immediately looked away and Hulk started to shrink down back to Dr. Banner.

"Can somebody, please, get this poor girl some clothes!" Bruce shouted.

Piper instantly covered herself up as best as she could with her arms and legs before she was covered with a blanket by Captain America.

"God this is embarrassing," Piper said.


	3. You're a Mutant Piper

"I'm a what?" Piper asked.

"You're a mutant," Hank repeated while stirring his cup of coffee.

"Oh. Sorry I thought you said monkey tank," Piper took a sip of orange juice from her glass, "I'm getting a heavy since of Harry Potter referencing here though."

Dr. Pym, Steve, Clinton, T'Challa, and Natalia were hanging out this morning in the kitchen. It held two large refrigerators next to the oven and sink. Across from it was a kitchen island with hanging pots and pans from the celling with two café tables facing outwards towards the wide-open windows looking out the city. Piper and Clint were notably more disheveled compared to the other four in the room who were sitting at the tables while Piper, Clint and Dr. Pym were hanging around the kitchen island.

"Uh, excuse you. I think you mean Honora Potter," Clint corrected her after taking out a jug of milk from one of the fridges and taking a swig from it, "You know. The girl who lived," Then he returned the jug.

"Mmhmm," Piper said.

It was too early in the morning for Piper to fully accept the fact that she was a mutant. She absentmindedly stuck a butter knife through the palm of her hand as she watched it separate then go back to normal when she took out the knife.

"How do you know I'm a mutant Dr. Pym," Piper asked through a yawn. Then she took another sip of her orange juice.

Hank leaned on the counter of the kitchen island then took a sip of coffee before answering, "In my study of your DNA we found the X-gene. Stark and I speculated that you going through the portal caused your powers to manifest."

"So basically, you're telling me that I'm likely the first from my dimension to get superpowers… How am I going to explain this to everyone when I get back!?" She stated as she once again stuck the butter knife through her hand, making it have a hole.

"You'll get there when you'll get there," Nat replied while taking a sip from her coffee cup.

Steve got up from his seat stretching. Sighed then turned to Piper, "Be ready in the training room in thirty minutes. I'll meet you there."

"Aye, aye. Mon Capitaine," Piper replied, saluting with her butter knife hand.

Piper had been living with the Avengers for a month and a half now. Mr. Stark had given her, her own room in the Avenger's Tower with all the basic necessities. Ever since that day Piper got zapped up with Thor to Grandmaster's death battle show two weeks ago she has been training with The Avengers. Mostly with Steve, Clint, Thor, and Nat. With the occasional tutoring from T'Challa. Thanks to their combat training and Piper's self-experimentations she has learned a great deal about her new abilities.

Piper has a sensitivity to vibrations. For example; when you put oobleck, the cornstarch and water mixture, on a speaker and it starts to ripple and bounce to the sound waves. That happens throughout Piper's body but is most noticeable on her skin when she listens to music. She is also capable of manipulating her body to form make-shift weapons like sharp claw fingers, hand javelins, and flat blades. Accompanied with super strength. She doesn't know yet how to become completely gooey again without Hulk smashing her like he did before and she definitely doesn't want that to happen again.

"Are. We. Almost. Done yet?" Piper begged while gasping for breath.

"Tired already?" Steve replied breathing hard.

The two of them stood in a boxing ring set up in the training room with all the weights and equipment in their usual places. Cap was showing Piper one on one combat techniques and it has been going on for three hours.

"Don't give me that. I'm a ballerina. Endurance is in the resume. What's bothering me is that we're not even listening to any music. Do you always train in silence?" Piper asked exhausted.

"Yes. It helps me think clearly. Though you should take a break, we're going to be taking you somewhere special today," Steve replied casually.

"Oh? Are you going to take me out for ice cream?" Piper asked half joking, half hoping as she took off the boxing gloves.

"Nothing like that, but just to give you a hint, let's say you're not the only mutant we know," Steve winked at her with a knowing smile.

"Mmhmm. Well. I better go get ready then," Piper told Steve as she jumped out of the ring.

"And don't forget—"

"I know, I know. Staggered stance, bent knees, low stance and practice my jabs," Piper interrupted.

"I was going to say don't forget to bring your valuables with you but that works too," Steve finished.

"Oh. Okay," Piper said.

# # #

Steve and Nat had borrowed one of Stark's red sports cars to take Piper to this "mysterious" place. Piper was fully aware that they were taking her to the X-Mansion, the school for gifted youngsters. She would have been completely fine with this if it wasn't for the fact that she had remembered that this universe has mind readers. Piper couldn't help but think how the fuck she was supposed to keep the fact that everything they know and love are in a comic in her universe with fucking mind readers around the whole hour-long drive there.

After taking a deep breath, Piper plugged in her headphones to calm herself down. Just letting the music thrum through her as she watched the cars go by helped a lot but it didn't let her ignore the fact that she basically knows everyone's secret identity and any bad guy mind readers could definitely get it out of her.

"So, where are we going and are we there yet?" Piper asked sounding as casual as can be.

"You didn't tell her?" Nat questioned Steve.

"I wanted it to be a surprise for her. She's a mutant and I thought it would be exciting for her," Steve replied innocently.

"Don't do that. She's new to all of this we can't spring surprises on her like that," Nat scolded then turned to look at Piper in the back set, "We're taking you to Xavier's School for gifted youngsters. It's specifically designed for training mutant children. Like yourself," Nat explained.

"Ha! Youngsters. That's like a 1940's word," Piper said smiling at the thought.

"It's been around a lot longer than that," Steve said as he drove up to a closed fancy gate with the Xavier's School insignia on it, "and we are officially here."

"Cool. I've never met any mutant's before it'll be— Woah!" Piper stopped mid-sentence to ogle the X-Mansion.

Piper had always admired the X-Mansion's in all of the different renditions in the comics and movies but nothing can beat actually seeing it in person. It was five stories high made of red-brown colored stone blocks. With a well-kept front lawn and a U-turn driveway. Making the mansion seem more like a castle, but this was only the front view. Piper knew there was more to see. Feeling overwhelmed with the sight Piper roll down her window and sat on the window sill for a better look. Steve rolled down his window too so he could talk into the intercom.

"Hey, this is Steve Rodgers. I'm here with Piper Thatcher and Natalia Romanoff to see Professor Xavier."

There was a pause before the little black box answered. "Hey Cap. Come right on in. The Professor is excited to meet Ms. Thatcher." There was a buzzing sound and the gates opened.

# # #

Inside there were high windows shining outside light onto hanging chandeliers. On the walls hung unnamed fancy landscape paintings that complemented the furniture. The floor was made of marble tiles that made the entrance hall echo. Piper could feel her palms starting to sweat from nerves. Then the three of them saw a man with no hair in a nice blue suit and in an electric wheelchair. Accompanied by a black woman with shocking white hair and electric blue eyes in a black tank top and blue jeans on the left and a man with ape like features covered in blue fur and walking on all fours like a gorilla, wearing only black pants, on the right. They met each other half way through the entrance hall.

"How are you Mr. Rogers and Ms. Romanoff?" Professor Xavier greeted.

"Still alive," Nat replied.

"And doing well," Steve answered. "How are you?"

"Excited for a new student," Professor Xavier stated.

Everybody turned to Piper who was now staring at the floor and standing ridged trying to contain her overwhelming sense of fangirling. She really wanted to know if Beast's hands were big enough to cover her entire face.

"Ms. Thatcher. We have been told of your situation from Stark," Henry McCoy began, "It's understandable if you're afraid."

Piper looked up in shock, "What? No. No. No. No. I'm not afraid. I'm overwhelmed and—and a bit excited. This place is just so—Wow—and you're all so—Wow—Okay?"

The adults smiled at her in kind understanding.

"Let me introduce ourselves," Professor Xavier started, "I am Professor Charles Xavier. These are some of my colleagues; Ms. Munroe and Mr. McCoy. They help with teaching the students here."

"I also go by Storm," the regal woman informed while extending a hand.

"Hi," Piper said as she shook her hand.

"I am sometimes called Beast," the blue hairy man added also inviting a handshake.

"Hi," Piper said as she couldn't help but think it was cool that Mr. McCoy's hand completely engulfed hers.

"We're glad to have you here Ms. Thatcher," the bald man said also extending a welcome handshake.

"Hi," was all Piper could say.

Everyone chuckled a bit.

"Let us show you around the mansion," Professor Xavier said as he started to motor away in his wheel chair.

They showed Piper, Steve, and Nat around the main areas of the mansion. The living room with a large flat screen TV and video game consoles and DVD player with tall open windows. The kitchen nearly bigger than Mr. Starks kitchen with fancy lights all around. The dining room, big enough to hold a whole platoon of men to feed with two long tables and a whole window wall opposite of the entrance. Then they showed her where everyone slept and how everyone had their own rooms on the second to fifth floor.

"And this is your room," Storm stated as she opened a door on the third floor.

It was quaint compared to all of the nice things she's seen. It had white walls with bits of hanging art work, two windows opposite of the entrance, a bathroom to the left and a bed, a wardrobe, and a nightstand to the right.

"Wait. What do you mean my room?" Piper asked confused.

"It'll be a lot easier to let you live here than to drive you here back and forth," Nat answered.

Steve and Nat could see the concern on Piper's face.

"Hey don't worry about it. Tony is still working on the portal to get you back home, but since you are here you might as well get the best schooling in how to control your powers," Steve tried to comfort Piper.

"The Avengers don't know how to properly train a mutant so it's for the best," Nat added.

"You'll be in good hands with us," Professor Xavier stated.

"…Um, well you see. I only brought my flip phone and IPod with me, because I thought it was just a visit," Piper replied while trying to hide her dark sense of abandonment as they kept reassuring her that leaving her at the mansion was fine, "You know, through all this I haven't seen any other kids my age yet. What's up with that?"

"Oh, they're all at Bayville High right now. It's a week day," Mr. McCoy answered.

"And the other teachers are down below in the training facility setting up for after school training," Ms. Munroe added.

"Don't worry about the clothes too much. I'll come back later today and drop them off," Nat replied.

Everybody seemed too cheery for Piper's liking.

"I guess I'm all set then," Piper stated with a crooked smile.

"Hey, Professor! Are you in here!" Barked a ruff voice.

"We're in here Logan!" Professor Xavier shouted.

In stepped Wolverine wearing greasy cargo pants and a stained white tank top while wearing a toolbelt. A dirty blue ball cap covered his usual spiky black hair; looking like he just got done working on some machines.

"I got the Blackbird all checked up and polished. It should get a better look over by a professional but she's flyable," Logan reported.

"That's good to hear. Logan, have you met our new student Ms. Thatcher?" Professor Xavier said introducing the teenager.

Piper was in awe. It'll be so nice to be able to get to interact with  _The_  Wolverine without having to worry about being killed in the process. She gave her sweetest smile and went to shake Logan's hand.

"It's so nice to meet you sir," Piper stated.

"Yah kid. It's nice to see you in some clothes this time," Logan joked.

Piper froze. Then without warning she grabbed Logan's arm, flung him up and over her head, and slammed him down on the floor as hard as she could onto his back. The floor cracked, indenting the floor with Wolverine's body along with the sound of breaking bones and ripping fabric.

"FUCK YOU! YOU INTOLERABLE ASS HAT!" Piper shouted at the top of her lungs.

Then Piper covered her face with her arms and screamed through her closed mouth.

"Piper, calm down," Storm told Piper with a surprised tone.

Piper looked up at her and glared, "Calm down? Calm down?! Don't tell me to calm down. I don't need to be told to calm down! I am Calm!

"Jesus Christ kid it was only a joke," Wolverine complained as he sat up. Joints were popping as he stood up.

"It was an awful joke. I don't need to be reminded of stuff like that," Piper steamed.

"Then get over it," Was Wolverine's careless reply.

Piper covered her face with her hands and closed mouth screamed again.

"Piper, please. Just breath for a minute," Steve tried to interject.

"No!" Piper shouted, she didn't want to calm down. She didn't want to be reminded that complete strangers have seen her naked and she wasn't going to take it.

But as Piper shouted that she felt something tickling her back. Turning around she saw that white tendrils were protruding from her back and where whipping around angrily. She sighed, exasperated.

"I'm going outside," Piper stated with cold furry.

Piper stomped past the adults over to the windows. Opened one and jumped out of the third story window and proceeded to find a tree to climb up. The adults were quiet for a moment.

"Was that really necessary to say to her, Logan," Storm asked.

Logan shrugged, "I'm not responsible for her actions," then he started to walk away, "I'm going to go take a shower."

"I'll come back later today to bring over her clothes. Good luck with her," Nat stated.

"Is this common for her," Mr. McCoy questioned the two Avengers.

"We don't know," Steve replied, "She mostly keeps to herself and this is the first time we've really seen her mad."

"This will certainly be a learning experience for all of us then," Professor Xavier mused aloud.

Storm nodded her head in agreement as the three X-men escorted the two Avengers out.

# # #

The night rose as twilight fell along with Piper's spirits. She sat on the highest branches of a tree in the back yard of the mansion. With her knees curled up to her chest and her chin resting on her knees and her white tendrils wrapped tightly around the other branches and trunk of the tree. She looked out over the grounded pool and basketball court, next to the volleyball court with all the pretty flowers surrounding the area.

Piper knew that she probably should have taken a different path to show how she felt about Wolverine's joke and comments. It just made her so mad though. Thinking about it made her tendrils tighten around the tree. She could hear the wood bend a bit and she tried to relax her grip. Piper didn't get to say goodbye to Nat, Steve, or the other Avengers. She buried her face into her knees. She just had to throw a huge fit, but she was totally in the right to show how she felt, Piper wasn't going to take that sort of shit from anyone. What if it wasn't Wolverine that said that to her though, she knows Logan has healing abilities so he would be fine physically, but would she be able to contain her temper against an asshole without super abilities. Piper could kill them with her bare hands if she wanted to. She looked up at the tree leaves in fear. She didn't want to kill someone again.

"Hey, are you up there!?" A woman's voice shouted.

Startled, Piper looked down through the tree branches to see a shadowy woman figure underneath the tree she was in. Piper decided to ignore her. She still hadn't gotten rid of her tendrils yet.

"I know you're up there. Please come down. It's getting dark out and don't you want to eat?" The woman asked loudly, "And meet the other kids?"

At the mention of food Piper's stomach rumbled but she ignored it.

"Fine. Then I'm coming up to you." The woman stated then she started to float up to the branch Piper was sitting in. Once she had sat down she took out a flashlight, turning it on and illuminating the two of them.

The woman was a long haired red head with freckles covering her face like an Alaskan starry night sky and eyes like green burning glass. Her features radiated kindness and understanding.

"Hey, my name's Jean Grey and you must be…?"

"Piper Thatcher." Piper mumbled.

"Nice to meet you," Jean greeted and offered a handshake.

Piper took it wordlessly. Cicadas started to echo their night songs.

"So, how old are you?" Jean asked nicely.

"Seventeen."

"Really!?" Jean replied in surprise.

Piper rolled her eyes at the common reaction.

"What are you doing up here?" Jean asked.

"Trying to calm down," Piper replied.

Piper's tendrils shifted around to grip the tree a different way. Jean watched them.

"Are you hungry?" Jean asked.

Piper's stomach growled loudly. She sighed, "Yah."

Jean smiled, "Do you need help down?"

"No. I got it," Piper answered.

Piper waited until Jean had floated down then she let go of the tree and jumped down. Her tendrils were limp and hanging around and weren't waving in anger, but they were still there. They started walking to the mansion to get inside.

Piper sighed again, "I'm going to need a new shirt soon."

"You'll be surprised how much clothes we go through here," Jean replied jokingly to make Piper feel better.

She smiled a bit and her tendrils shrunk slightly.

"What do you do here?" Piper asked.

"I'm a student-teacher here. I assist the other teachers in their teachings and I help organize sport events," Jean answered.

"Cool."

They walked in silence as they walked through the back door of the mansion and to the kitchen to grab tonight's dinner. It was spaghetti and meatballs and Piper was happy to see such a familiar food choice. The two grabbed a plate and headed to the dining room. Piper could hear the chittering of forty-different people so she quickly took out her IPod and slipped on her headphones and blasted her music.

The dining room was packed with people. Some sat normally at the two tables but other's floated around or were squatting in their seats or were teasing their neighbors. Piper stood frozen a bit at so many people and her tendrils wrapped themselves around her body. Jean tapped on Piper's shoulder and pointed to the left. Professor Xavier was waving at the two of them. Piper followed Jean over to the teachers. There was Mr. McCoy, Ms. Munroe, Scott Summers, Piotr Rasputin, Warren Worthington the third, and Emma Frost. Thankfully Piper didn't see Wolverine anywhere.

Jean sat down as the Professor said, "Jean told me she found you. Glad you could have dinner with us."

Piper didn't hear him so she just smiled, gave a thumb up and went to find somewhere to sit. A lot of her fellow teens stared at her as she walked down between the two tables. Her tendrils tightened around her waist, chest, and arms but Piper gave a strained smile and waved at everyone who looked her way. Ahead Piper saw Bobby Drake and Kitty Pryde scooted away from each other making room for her to sit. She said thank you and sat down. As Piper started to eat a sudden puff of smoke appeared in front of Piper and a blue boy with a tail and a black bob hair cut dropped on to the table top. It was Kurt Wagner.

This startled Piper so much that she jumped backwards and fell out of her seat accidentally tearing out her headphones and all her tendrils spazzing out accidentally hitting some people.

"Oops. Sorry," Piper apologized.

Bobby laughed, "Good one Kurt."

Kitty rolled her eyes, "It wasn't that funny."

"I'm Kurt Wagner. It's nice to meet you." He introduced himself ignoring his classmates.

Sitting back up Piper got a good look at Kurt then gasped with excitement.

"You are the cutest thing ever!" Then Piper stood up on the bench and gave Kurt a hug. "Look at you! You even have an adorable little tail. Too cute!"

As Piper hugged Kurt her tendrils retracted back into her body as her fangirling could no longer be contained.

"Ha! Looks like you got yourself a new girlfriend, Kurt!" someone shouted.

That took Piper out of her fangirling instantly and pulled back to arm's length, "I'm sorry." Then she lifted Kurt up and sat him down behind her off of the table and let go, "I'm Piper Thatcher. Nice to meet you too."

Kurt had a big stupid smile. Waved. Then poofed away.

The day wasn't too bad Piper supposed as she sat down to finish eating as others continued to laugh.


	4. Living with the X's

The sound of whirling gears and scratching metal filled the air with the smell of teenage sweat. School at Bayville High ended and power training was in session. The combat teacher's. Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, and Colossus, were outside the fray of the combat droids. Making sure none of the children where in any life-threatening situations. The combat training room is deep underground. Beneath the X-Mansion and is several stories tall with many entrances and exits. Made of metal. It has stunning beams. Long robot snake arms. Collapsible floors, and buzz saws (that can't cut a thing but still hurt if you touch one when on). Smashing pillars, and flying targets used to practice targeting, among other training utensils. Overlooking the training room is the control room. It hides behind a sturdy, two-way mirror.

Everyone was doing a great job. Though Piper was still getting use to her living arrangement. Like the rest of her teammates Piper is in a skin-tight suit. It was black with sky-blue on her hands and feet and a sky-blue 'X' in a circle on her chest. Her short, brown hair has grown long enough for her to be able to pull it back in a ponytail. Piper used her powers as her designed suit stuck with her no matter how her body shifted.

The suit didn't help with her lack of confidence. As she mentally struggled against the obstacle course. She was last in line. The course is you must cross a small chasm. Dodge the robot snake arms, pass through smashing pillars. Grab a target at the end then come back with the target intact. Sure it seems easy. Yet, when you're last in line for anything you tend to psych yourself out when in unfamiliar situations.

"Alright Piper, you're up," Scott called out.

Cyclops's outfit had black and had yellow shoes, a yellow belt with an 'X' buckle. His shaggy brown hair got pushed back a bit by a yellow visor covering his eyes.

Piper was eyeing her fellow classmates as they gave each other high fives. Everyone was succeeding. Scott walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder gaining her attention.

"Hey. Don't look at them, look at the course. Now breath with me," Scott instructed.

Piper took a breath with Cyclops, held it with him, then released.

"You'll be okay." Comforted Scott.

Piper nodded with a thin-lipped look of determination and half dread.

Taking his hand off of Piper's shoulder Scott gave her a thumbs up and backed away. Piper started to run. The chasm was getting closer, then as her feet were at the edge Piper used her momentum to jump up and over the chasm. Piper didn't think about how much force she needed for the jump. She sailed over the chasm and the robot snake arms and smashed full body into a pillar. The surrounding people couldn't help but cringe at the sickening smack sound Piper made. As the pillar moved up in its slot Piper slid down and fell on her knees and rubbed her sore nose.

The ground was starting to move up and realizing she was on an active pillar, got back and ran for her intended goal. Dodging the smashing pillars. Storm handed Piper a dinner plate sized ceramic target. It looked like it weighed about 20bls. but weighed nothing to Piper.

"Are you alright," Storm asked as static coursed through her curly white hair.

"Peachy." Piper answered before running back through the course.

She made it through the smashing pillars . The snake arms were harder as she had to maneuver through the metal mess while carrying the target. Piper had made it out of the snake arms when one caught her from behind making her throw her target into the air. Panicked Piper ran after the target, jumped, and caught it in mid-air over the chasm and landed on the other side. Unfortunately, when she landed there was the unmistakable sound of ceramic shattering.

The pieces of the target stuck out of Piper's arms and torso. Piper sighed in defeat as she walked the rest of the length of the course. Pulling shards out of her arms and torso.

"Hey. You got closer this time," Cyclops congratulated her, trying to make her feel better.

Piper sighed. Frustrated she headed to the next exercise. The control room reorganized the training room.

It was a long time before the training finally stopped so everyone could get to work on their homework. Well, it felt long for Piper. It was only three hours and when summer starts up the training will last about as long as a normal school day. Piper dragged her feet as her fellow classmates got together in their usual clicks. They were chatting about what happened at school. Or how their family was doing, or the last time they defeated a bad guy, or about possible love interests. Piper didn't pay much attention. She was trying to figure out how to better control her new powers.

Up ahead, near the exit, Piper saw Wolverine. Still being angry at him, but not wanting to start anything, she looked away. She grabbed her appearing tendrils and petted them. Piper walked through the exit while avoiding eye contact. Once Piper was far enough away her tendrils retract.

"Hey Piper!"

"Gah!"

Shadow Cat was poking through the hallway wall from the waist up. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail braid and she was already out of her X-man suit. Wearing a flowy solid yellow-green dress.

Piper sighed with relief, "I don't think I'm ever going to get use to that. How are you Kitty?"

Kitty giggled and stepped all the way through the wall, "I'm good. What do you think of my dress?"

Piper stood a moment in silence contemplating how Kitty looked.

"You look cute. Makes me think of innocent childhood dreams," she complemented.

Kitty frowned at the floor and looked disappointed.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just… Do you think it's at least a bit seductive?" Kitty asked.

"No. But I'm not the one who you're trying to seduce right? Who are you trying to seduce?" Piper questioned politely.

"Peter." Kitty replied shyly.

"Peter…? Wait. You mean Mr. Rasputin. As in Colossus! As in our teacher!" Piper replied in shock.

There was an awkward silence. Then Piper remembered that in the comics Kitty and Peter Rasputin are a cannon couple.

"I… can see why you would like him," Piper stated trying to regain her composer, "but aren't you a little young?"

"I'm eighteen and he's twenty-four. It's legal." Kitty stated factually.

Piper noticed that Mr. Rasputin and Ms. Monroe were coming towards them behind Kitty.

"Welp Miss legal, here comes your knight in shining armor. I'm going to go take a shower." Piper stated then started to walk away.

"Wait! Piper, do you have a minute," Storm called after her.

Piper gave a tired sigh. She staid where she was until Ms. Monroe caught up to her.

"Do you mind if we walk and talk I would like to take a shower," Piper asked.

"Not at all child." Storm complied.

The two walked away as Kitty caught Peter's attention and they started talking.

"So what do you need Teach?"

Storm was wearing a skin tight black suit with a white "X" in a circle on her chest. With a black tiara holding back her bangs and a white cape. The cape flowed behind her as she walked with Piper.

"Checking up on you. How are you adjusting to living here? I see you've made friends with Ms. Pryde." Storm commented.

"I'm fine. I suppose. And Kitty and I just talk sometimes. I don't really think that makes us friends. I mean there's a lot of people here I talk to sometimes. So yah, we're at most acquaintances." Piper replied.

There was a moment of silence as they walked out of the lower levels and into the main building.

"You have improved greatly since you first got here two months ago," Ms. Monroe stated.

"That's nice of you to say," Piper dismissed nonchalantly.

"You don't agree?"

"No."

The two of them walked up the stairs heading to the dorm rooms.

"You are too hard on yourself Piper. Give yourself time to learn at the pace you can handle," Ms. Monroe advised.

They had made it to Piper's room. Piper's back faced Storm then she turned to face the African woman, with her hand on the door knob. Piper had a look of steely determination on her face.

"I can't do that." Piper stated. "It doesn't matter if my surroundings are new or not. I have a power that I don't fully understand and if I don't constantly keep it in mind I tend to break stuff. And what if I do what I did to Wolverine to someone who doesn't have super healing powers. I was lucky. That body slam would have killed or seriously injured anyone else."

"You're right," Storm complied. "But you don't need to beat yourself up over every little mistake you make while in training."

"I'm not doing that," Piper huffed defensively. Then she entered her room and closed the door behind her.

Ms. Monroe noticed that the door handle got crinkled, she sighed then walked away.

Piper waited behind her door until she couldn't hear Storm's footsteps. Ignoring the dint in the floor Piper went over to her bed. She picked up her flip phone and looked through all her pictures of home again.

# # #

It was Saturday morning and everyone was enjoying their free time. Playing games or hanging out with each other, watching TV or whatever else one does with their free time. Piper had finished her breakfast and was about to head for her room when Kurt called out to her.

"Hey Piper, you want to play video games with us?" Kurt asked.

"Yah, we need a new fourth player for Mario Cart." Kitty stated.

"An Sam over there is too much of a sore loser to have any fun with." Rogue added while pointing casually at the downtrodden Cannonball. That she had just beat in an arm-wrestling match.

"No thank you. I'm tired and I want to go to my room." Piper replied as she started to walk away.

Kurt Poofed in front of Piper. "Oh, come on. You're always staying in your room." He complained.

Rogue and Kitty followed suit. "Aren't chya tired of bein' by yourself so much. Ya barely talk to anyone."

Kitty nodded in agreement.

Piper sighed and stopped walking to face the three of them, "Look guys. What I'm tired of is being around other people and I want to be alone today. I know that sounds rude so can we pick a day out for next week to play video games together?"

"Nah, forget it. We'll leave you alone now," Kitty acknowledged a bit coldly.

Kurt sighed and walked after Kitty.

Piper turned to Rogue as she was still standing there looking like she was thinking.

"How about this Wednesday before lunch? We can hang out then." Rogue suggested.

"That sounds great." Piper replied with a smile.

# # #

The hot wind blew through Piper's loose braided brown hair. Rogue drove to the outskirts of New York with the car window's down. Rogue was wearing her long wavy hair in a ponytail with her white bangs blowing in the wind. She was wearing a blue tank top. With a black quartered sleeve jacket over it. Black skinny jeans, black boots and blue gloves tying it all together. Piper was wearing a white t-shirt, loose blue jeans and a nondescript pair of tennis shoes.

Piper looked out the window. She watched suburban houses fade away into larger apartments. Piper decided to try striking up conversation. Despite knowing a creepy fuck-ton of stuff about her already.

"Thank you for taking me out like this."

"No problem, Sugar. I thought if I'm going to schedule somthin' with yah we might as well get out of the mansion," Rogue replied.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked as she kept looking out the open window.

"I found this sweet li'l coffee shop called the Chipped Cup. I thought we could get somethin' to eat and drink there then I could show you around my favorite spots in New York." Rouge answered as she turned the car left into traffic.

Piper faced Rouge as she pulled her knees to her chest, "That sounds great actually."

After a while the two lapsed into what Piper felt was an awkward silence.

Finally Rouge and Piper walked up to the Chipped Cup as they had to park a block away from the actual coffee shop. The little shop didn't look anything like it's surroundings. The Chipped Cup looked like a romanticized version of a country home. With wooden tables and chairs sitting outside with big red and white sun umbrellas. Looking through the big open window the place had wooden floors. Booths and wooden tables and chairs matching the outside décor. Rustic hanging lights lit the inside that the sun shining through window couldn't reach.

"It looks nice." Was Piper's comment.

"I think so too. Let's get out of this heat. They have air conditionin' inside," Rouge informed as she headed inside.

Inside was nice and cool, a little bit too cool for Piper but she didn't complain. The coffee shop was full of eccentric looking people. That were hipsters or mutants in disguise. Hard to tell. The two of them went to the counter and ordered their drinks then found a seat next to the window to wait for their order.

"You're a quiet type, huh." Rouge stated. Pointing out Piper's laps of silence.

"Conversation isn't my strong suit." Piper replied. Think what's the point, since she already knows so much about the Marvel Universe.

"Then what do you what to talk about?" Rouge genuinely asked.

Stricken with sudden panic Piper blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"If you could suck the dick of a celebrity for a million dollars, who's would it be?"

There was a moment of silence then Rouge burst out laughing. Piper sat there unfazed by this as she's used to this sort of thing. A few people started to stare. Rouge laughed for so long and couldn't look Piper in the eye. Their drinks finished and Piper had to get them as Rouge collected herself.

"Leonardo Dicaprio. That's—that's who'd I'd give a blow job to for a million dollars." Rouge snickered while taking a drink from her coffee.

Piper nodded to acknowledge Rouge's answer. She drank her Iced Moca thinking this is what she gets for reading so many Deadpool comics.

"What about you Sugar? Who would you do for a million dollars?" Rouge asked playfully.

"Oh, people could never pay me to suck anything more than candy." Piper answered nonchalantly.

"What about a candy dick?"

"A dick with candy on it or a candy that looks like a dick?"

"...Both."

"Well the first one will be definitely a no. It's a waste of candy. The second one I wouldn't mind as much but I'm sure it wouldn't fair well with the public."

Rouge couldn't help but playfully smirk and Piper smiled along with her. After finishing their coffee they walked to Rouge's car. Heading farther into the city. Though life wasn't going to be easy on the two of them as they got into a massive traffic jam. People were shouting, cars were honking and tires were screeching.

# # #

Rouge's head was resting on the steering wheel in defeat. Piper tentatively followed the sound of two drivers. Shouting at each other who were three cars apart from each other.

"I'm sorry about this. I thought we could beat the afternoon traffic." Rouge moaned.

In her best New York accent Piper replied, "Eh, forget about it." Hearing how terrible her New York accent attempt made the two women giggle.

"Why don't you tell me about some of the places you're going to show me. I would like to hear about them." Piper asked.

Rouge lifted her head up from the steering wheel, "Well. You've never been to New York before, right?"

Piper nodded.

"I planned on showin' you around Central Park so you could see some of my favorite street performers. Then there's this little ally garden that has the best hot dog stand next to it. Then I thought I'd show you the Empire State Building."

"Well great. I shouldn't have asked you to tell me you're plans cause now I'm impatient to get a move on." Piper teased half-joking, half serious.

Piper had a great idea.

"Hey, where up ahead are we going."

"Well we have to keep going straight until the first exit that comes up."

Piper unbuckled herself. "Alright. Got it." Then got out of the car and closed the door behind her.

Through the open window Rogue asked, "Piper. What are you doing?"

Instead of answered Piper bent down and dead lifted the car over her head. Rouge shouted a bit at the sudden lift of her car and the jostling of Piper. Trying to comfortably hold the car over her head. The surrounding citizens gawked at Piper as she gently walked. Careful not to hit anyone with Rouge's car.

Rouge yelled at Piper, "Piper! What do you think you are doing? Put my car back where it was!"

"Sorry Rouge. Too late for that now. Someone already took our spot." Piper called back.

Up ahead and closer to the stop light Piper saw an opening to set Rouge's car down. People continued staring, some in shock, some in fear and for some of the small children they stared in awe. Finally setting the car down Piper waved hi to the staring crowd then got back into the car. Despite the heat Rouge had rolled up the windows.

"Don't do that ever again." She commanded shakily.

"Sorry if I scared you with picking up your car but I'm kind of proud of my control. I didn't break anything." Piper apologized.

Rouge stared at her in disbelief then she rested her head on the steering wheel again. "Of course you don't understand what you did wrong. You're not from this dimension."

"Wait. You know I'm from a different dimension? Cause I know only Beast, Storm and Professor Xavier know about that outside of the Avengers, of course."

"A few of us older students know but not everyone, like Jean and Emma Frost know."

"Okay, well, is what I did illegal? I mean I know there aren't very many people who are strong enough to just move their cars like what I did… Okay so maybe what I did was illegal. How long do I have to go to jail?" Piper rambled.

Piper poked Rouge on the shoulder to point out the green light for them to go. They started driving.

"They'll hunt you down and try to kill you." Rouge answered not taking her eyes off the road.

"For moving your car in traffic!?" Piper asked in disbelief.

"For being a mutant."

Piper paused then groaned and buried her face into her hands. She knew that a good part of people in the Marvel Universe weren't big fans of mutants. But it was a new comic series. She thought that maybe. Just maybe. That this comic Marvel Universe would just drop the whole. Mutants are abominations and we must destroy them all – shtick. Welp, Marvel's got to have their racist and classist commentary after all, since it is still relevant.

"I am so sorry." Piper apologized through her covered face.

"Thank you, I guess I'll take you to my favorite stops another time. It's too dangerous now."

Piper groaned in disappointment as they drove back to the mansion.

# # #

After three hours of back tracking and making sure nobody was following them. Rouge and Piper finally made it back to the X-mansion to then get greeted by half the school at the front door.

Storm flew over to Piper and hugged her in relief. Professor Xavier the rest of the staff and half of the students raced down the stairs. Many people patted Rouge's shoulders out of affection. Storm finally stopped hugging Piper.

"We're so glad you guys made it back alive," Jean stated.

"Did you have any troubles getting back home," Xavier questioned worriedly.

Stretching Rouge replied, "We only had one close call, but we managed."

"I'm glad to see you unharmed kid," Logan stated to Rouge warmly.

"We saw it on the news," Bobby stated.

Kitty turned to Piper angrily. "What were you thinking displaying your mutant powers like that."

Disconnected Piper replied, "I wasn't. Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Sam the Cannonball fumed, "Somebody could have died."

Piper couldn't help but smirk at the thought of "dying". Because nobody actually dies permanently here. Piper's face separated as her body instinctively dodged Sam's punch. She tumbled back a bit from shock as her face went back to normal.

"You think this is funny!?" exclaimed Sam absolutely furious.

Piper refused to say anything as that would have made things even worst.

Shouting over everyone Professor Xavier said, "Okay everyone back inside! It's been a long day for everyone, so for today there will be no afterschool training."

Piper didn't follow the crowd and instead waited until everyone had gone inside. Everyone left except Professor Xavier. He wheeled himself over to Piper. She looked away from him expecting a lecture.

"I'm sorry Piper."

She looked at the old teacher in confusion, "What are you sorry for, Sir?"

"As your teacher I have failed you. I know you come from a different dimension. Yet I neglected to establish what mutants in our society are to normal people . I'm grateful that Rouge was with you," explained the Professor.

Quickly trying to reassure Professor Xavier Piper replied, "No. It's fine, I should have—"

Xavier cut Piper off, "No it is not, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Piper looked away feeling guilty for not doing better. Professor Xavier rested his hand on her arm. He started wheeling to the front mansion entrance as Piper walked beside him.

"How about I give you some history books about mutants and other things of the like?" Xavier asked.

"That's sounds awesome," Piper replied in a melancholy tone of voice.


	5. Frostbite and Sentinels

The dining room was as lively as ever with the sound of yesterday's news playing in the background. Piper didn't notice as she was listening to her music at a high enough volume to drown out the noise. Tonight, was pizza night and Piper wasn't excited about the pizza, but it's free food so who is she to complain. Having caused so much trouble yesterday. The least she could do was not complain about petty things. Plus, the guilt helped keep down the greasy mess of a pizza slice. As she was thinking this, someone was trying to get Pipers attention. Finally they had enough of Piper ignoring them and pulled out an ear phone.

"Hey! Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you," demanded a tall young man.

Piper looked up at him. Three boys were looking down at her. The supposed leader was a broad and muscular kid with blond hair. His friends were slimmer than their leader but the one on the left had wings and black hair. The one on the right was taller than both boys with long red hair. He looked like you could snap him in half with your pinkie finger.

"Hold on." Piper took out the other side of her earbud, "Alright. What do you need Sam?"

"Let's spar together. Your powers will be fun to test myself against," Sam stated while punching his fist into his palm.

"Uh, I don't think so. It'll be dangerous. Plus aren't you still mad at me?" Piper replied.

"I- no. No. I'm okay. I just want to have a friendly brawl." Sam explained.

"And that's why I'm coming," Calvin added as his wings readjusted themselves.

Piper gave Calvin a questioning look. "What difference will you make, Cal?"

"I have Bobby's freezing abilities. I can freeze you two in place if it looks like you two are about to kill each other," Calvin answered, nonchalant.

"And what about you Kevin," Piper turned to the Changeling.

"I want to watch," Kevin shrugged.

"We should go. Right now, if you can," Cannonball added.

Piper stood up with her plate of half eaten pizza and shouted, "WHO WANTS MY PIZZA!"

Bamf! Kurt Wagner appeared before Piper. "I'll take that. I love pepperoni pizza."

"There you go cutie pie."

"Thank you." Kurt Bamfed away.

"Alright. Let's go." Piper exclaimed. Glad to have an excuse to not eat pizza and bury her guilt.

# # #

The training room. An empty metal room after midday practice, echoed the four teen's footsteps as they entered.

"Okay so are you—" Piper started to say, but frozen solid by Calvin's freezing ability mid sentence.

"Alright, I brought the permanent markers and selfie stick for your phone Calvin. You—Sam?" Kevin asked.

"What are you doing," Calvin added in worry.

Sam was warming up his jet propulsion ability, "I'm going to punch her smug face."

"Why? When we can draw dicks on her frozen face and take a selfie with her," Kevin stated in an appeasing tone. Who just wanted to do a harmless prank.

"You didn't see it then. Yesterday when Rogue and Piper got home from New York City. She smiled when she heard that people could have died. She dodged my fists then, but she won't now," Sam the Cannonball exclaimed as he finished warming up his power. He started to walk over to Piper but Calvin blocked the way.

"I don't think that's a good idea. She's frozen solid. You could shatter her and kill her or at the very least put her though a lot of pain." Exclaimed Calvin.

"Oh, I won't kill her. I what her to feel the exact same pain she caused. To so many Mutants, with her stupid stunt," Sam stated as he pushed passed Calvin.

Kevin then got in Sam's way, "Come on man, I thought you wanted to prank her, not hurt her."

"She hurt even more people yesterday. Didn't you hear the news today? The Sentinels found five more mutants. She didn't even get punished for her stupidity," Sam shouted as he muscled his way past Kevin.

Sam was about to punch Piper in her frozen face when Jean and Professor Xavier burst into the training room.

"What are you doing!" shouted Xavier.

The boy's jumped and started stuttering. Trying to explain themselves but Jean interrupted them.

"Cal, unfreeze Piper. Now!" Jean demanded.

The winged boy did what Jean said and once Piper was free of the ice she collapsed to the ground. Her hands up to her forearms were black with frostbite. The three boys looked at Piper in shock.

Jean kneeled next to Piper and cradled her head on her lap. Jean moved Piper's brown hair out of her face. Everyone could see that her ears, nose and lips were black with frostbite as well. "We heard you Piper. Breath. Dr. Ghazikhanian is coming."

The three boys stood in silence next to Professor Xavier as Annie Ghazikhanian came in. She examined Piper's frostbite, and had Jean gently float her to the nursing room on ground floor. Once the women were gone Xavier turned to the three of them in his wheelchair.

"Care to explain yourselves," the man demanded in a disappointed tone.

Kevin raised his hand slightly as he talked. "I would like to go on record saying that we did not think she would be so sensitive to the cold. We have done this before with other people and they came out fine." He then dropped his hand.

Sam crossed his arms and glared to the left and Calvin wrung his hands together as he looked down.

Professor Xavier sighed sadly, "I have given you three many chances to stop with these sorts of pranks. Now someone got hurt because of them."

There was a pause as Xavier sighed again.

"You are all grounded for the rest of the month."

"What," Sam and Kevin cried. Calvin nodded in understanding.

"There will be no more after practice TV, no more video games, and you are to stay in your rooms after dinner is over. Once Piper is stable enough I want all three of you to apologize to her. Have I made myself clear," Professor Xavier said in a stern tone.

Calvin and Kevin nod their head in agreement but Sam glowered at Xavier.

"No," Sam stated willfully, "I am not apologizing to her and you let her off the hook too easy yesterday. There were mutants hiding in plain sight in the vicinity of where she was showing off her powers. The Sentinels found them because of her and she gets books to read. Why?"

Xavier gave the boy's a calculated look, "Because she didn't know any better."

"Didn't know any better?" Echoed Calvin, his wings twitching in confusion.

"Bullshit." Sam curtly said.

"Piper grew up in an environment completely different from our own. She knows only so much and hasn't grown up with the notion that her powers are something that people would fear. That she should hide them," Professor Xavier explained carefully.

"That's… weird," Kevin stated, "I guess it makes since. It's summer and we all tend to stay on the Mansion property so she hasn't seen us in our disguises. So, everything we do here would be what's normal outside the grounds too."

"If she somehow did get raised outside of society," Sam added skeptically.

"Yes, now everyone to your rooms and don't come out until it is breakfast time tomorrow morning." Professor Xavier concluded the conversation and motored away in his wheelchair. The boys followed suit, upset.

# # #

It was one in the morning and Calvin was in his bed. Sleeping on his stomach with his wings spread out and hung over the edges of the bed. His long black hair, tied up in a braid and was getting caught up in his sleep drool. A loud knock hit Calvin's window and startled him awake. Groggily, Calvin swiped at his bed side lamp and turned it on after the third attempt. Then dragged himself out of bed and to the window. Opening his window Calvin let in the muggy night air and Sam and Kevin. Sam's blond hair was a mess like he struggled all night to go to sleep but couldn't. Kevin looked like he's been awake the whole night.

"Hey, thanks ma—Oh my God! Why aren't you wearing any clothes," Whispered Kevin as he and Sam covered their eyes.

"Fuck you. This is my room," Calvin grumbled sleepily. Then he went to his clothes pile and put on a pair of boxers. "Happy?" He whispered.

The three of them gathered next to Calvin's bed.

"Yes, much better," Kevin sighed in relief as he and Sam uncovered their eyes.

"What are you guys doing here anyway? We're not suppose to leave our rooms. Remember?" Calvin warned them in a hushed tone.

"It's about the five people that the Sentinels got yesterday. I –" Sam started to say but Calvin interrupted him.

"Nope. I don't want to hear it. I know you blame Piper for the Sentinels finding them but we are still to blame for hurting—"

"Piper can go fuck off for all I care," Sam stated in a harsh whisper, "I'm talking about going to save those five mutants."

"By ourselves," Kevin added quietly.

Calvin covered his face with his hands. Then started rubbing his eyes and sighed deeply. "There are so many reasons wrong with this," he muttered in to his hands.

The three boys jumped at the loud, bass sound that could resounded throughout the mansion. It was the distress signal for the X-men that a villain Mutant is running amuck somewhere. The boys were silent as they listened to some teachers and third year students get up quickly. Got into uniform and rushed to the Black Bird. After about fifteen minutes everything was quiet once again. Except for one last sound of the Black Bird taking off into the dark.

After a long pause Kevin whispered, "Who wants to bet it's Magneto again."

Calvin sighed tiredly and placed his hands on his hips, "Go back to your rooms, Guys. I want to go back to sleep."

"Not until you help us figure out where the Sentinels are so we can save any mutants that we find," Sam firmly muttered.

"What even makes you so sure the Sentinels even bother with keeping any mutants alive." Calvin stated harshly.

Before Sam could answer another alarm sounded throughout the mansion. This was the high-pitched scream like alarm, warning an intruder was on the grounds. Along with the alarm was the low rumble of large footsteps. The three boys stared at each other's sudden pale faces in realization. From the other side of the mansion. Sounds of crushing timber, glass shattering, and screams resounded from the other side. Kevin, Sam, and Calvin ran out of the bedroom and rushed to the other side of the mansion to where the girl's dorms were.

# # #

It was dark with the only source of light being from sparking electricity. Then the light coming from the eyes of giant, purple, humanoid robots. Sentinels. Large sections of the mansion fell apart and rubble the size of boulders laid strewn across the lawn. Children screamed in the night as the teenagers hurried as fast as they could. Gathering the young ones. The adults and third years that stayed behind were fighting. The four human shaped Sentinels larger than the five-story mansion were rampaging. Trying to grab at the mutants. Calvin, Sam, and Kevin could only stare. Until they heard screaming immediately next to them.

"I'm coming Jeanne!" Kevin shouted. He quickly shapeshifted into Calvin and flew down from the third level. Changed back to normal and started running towards the screaming.

Sam and Calvin looked to one another and nodded each other good luck. Calvin flew in another direction with more screaming. Sam jumped down and ran towards the Sentinels to try and help the adults. Using his jet propulsion. Sam flew into the air and aimed himself directly at a Sentinel's chest plate. Using the natural shield that comes from his jet propulsion.

It was a direct hit, making the Sentinel stumble backwards a bit. Giving Colossus the chance to trip the Sentinel. Into another one that Angel was combatting. Sam felt a tingling in his brain and heard Ms. Frost speak to him.

"Sam, help the younger students. We need everybody into the lower bunkers," Emma Frost telepathically demanded of him.

Sam thought to her as he flew in to attack another Sentinel. "I'm not leaving you guys to fight this on your own and there's enough people helping the younger students."

"You're not even a second-year student yet. Go help your classmates and let us teachers and third years handle this," Ms. Frost thought harshly at him.

Ignoring his teacher Sam dived to hit another Sentinel in the chest. The Sentinel managed to hit Sam like it was swatting a fly in the air. He lost his focus on his powers and he stopped flying. As he fell Sam tried to use his powers again but he was panicking as the ground got closer and closer. Before Sam was about to hit the ground someone managed to catch him and cushion his fall. By the light of the Sentinel's eyes, Sam saw that the person who caught him was Piper.

"Are you alive," She shouted over the sounds of battle.

Sam nodded. He saw that Piper was not healed from the frost bite as she limped around in her almost goop form. Her arms, legs, and other frostbitten areas were solid and frozen looking. While the rest of Piper was malleable. She was still human shaped because the frostbite limited her.

"Come on! Let's get these giant bastards," Piper yelled as she ran, limping at the fourth Sentinel.

"God Damn it. Stop her before she gets herself killed out here!" Emma Frost telepathically ordered Sam. "She's not listening to me."

As Sam was warming up his jet propulsion he replied mentally, "I got her." Then he flew after Piper.

As Sam was about to pick Piper up near one of the Sentinel's feet. Piper jumped straight up into the air and made it to the indented chest plate. It was slightly above the height of the mansion. Then using that indented area as a platform. Piper skyrocketed herself right underneath the chin. Punching through its chin and out the top of its head.

As the Sentinel's eyes were flashing off Piper used it's falling momentum. She jumped onto the shoulder of the Sentinel Angel distracted. While Sam watched this in shock, he flew faster to catch up with her. Piper managed to land on the Sentinel's shoulder. Angel and some third-year students were trying to bring it down. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded throughout the area. The fourth Sentinel knocked into Angel's Sentinel. The force made Piper slip. Losing her grip on the shoulder. Then only managing to grab onto an opening that cracked open by the force of the collision. Angel tried to go help Piper but the Sentinel kept swatting at him forcing Angel to fall back. As Piper was about to fall Sam came up from below and caught her.

"Come on. You're injured," Sam stated loudly as they flew between Sentinel's swiping at them. Seeing with what little light there was, Piper's left hand and feet had little fractures in them.

"No! They're here because I was an idiot yesterday and this might as well be my fault." Piper shouted as tears from pain and the wind rolled down her cheeks.

"You didn't know this would happen," Sam shouted and he thought, "Why am I defending her? This is her fault."

"I should have still known better," Piper screamed over the wind. Tears rolling down harder onto her face.

When Sam thought they were finally out of a Sentinel's reach, one managed to smack them down out of the air. Sam closed his eye's expecting to feel the ground soon but instead there was a swinging feeling. Sam opened his eyes as Piper had managed to wrap her arms and legs around the middle finger of the Sentinel. She was holding on to him with her tendrils from her back.

"Now! Start pulling. We'll get it off balance," Piper shouted at Sam.

With a grim nod Sam focused on his jet propulsion. The Sentinel was about to slam down its hand on some flying third-years. Sam and Piper redirect its trajectory. Having its arm slam into the head of Angel's Sentinel. This allowed Colossus to break the Sentinel's foot off by the ankle while Angel kept it off balance. Angel's Sentinel fell into the Sentinel Sam and Piper were on. Before both Sentinel's fell to the ground Sam managed to fly in an angle. It broke the arm Piper was holding the hand of then she let go.

Piper and Sam felt Ms. Frost speak to them, "You two are doing great but I want you're butts out of here now!" She mentally ordered them.

Sam was about to answer his teacher when he felt Piper's tendrils slip from him as Piper passed out from the pain. He quickly caught her and mentally spoke to his teacher, "Yes, Ms. Frost. We're leaving now."

Before Sam had carried Piper into the bunkers. He heard the unmistakable sound of the Black Bird returning.

# # #

The rising sun filtered through the settling dust in the air. The Sentinels laid broken and unmoving on the once manicured lawn. Inside the bunkers children and teenagers were sleeping. The adults and medical team were watching over them. Piper was one of the first to wake up. She was in immense pain. Piper was trying to move her hands when she saw that they were in gauze and wrapped tightly once again. As she started to sit up she noticed that her pillow for the night was Sam's lap. He slept with his back against a wall, his head drooping in an uncomfortable looking position. Dr. Annie Ghazikhanian noticed Piper start to get up. She headed towards her to check on her fractured frostbite.

Piper turned to Sam, "Pssst. Sam." She whispered.

Piper lightly tapped on his chest and as his head rolled forward, he startled awake and his neck popped.

"That sounded like that hurt." Piper commented.

"Yah, it did." Sam groaned as he stretched.

"I see you two are awake," Dr. Ghazikhanian whispered as she knelt down next to Piper, "How are you feeling?"

"A lot of pain… Give it to me straight Doc. When are we going to cut off my limbs?" Piper asked.

With a surprised giggle Annie replied, "Oh Honey, you won't need amputation." She took out some pain meds out of her lab coat and a small bottle of water.

"Well that's a relief," Sam stated.

Piper nodded as she ate the pain medicine and let Dr. Ghazikhanian bring the water bottle to her lips for a drink.

"You'll be fine as long as you don't do a stupid stunt like what you did last night ever again. Digging through rubble, lifting people, punching that Sentinel like you did. I'm surprised your arms and feet didn't shatter," Dr. Ghazikhanian scolded.

Piper shrugged and started staring at the wall.

"Your skin fractures will take longer to heal. But your frostbite will be gone within half a month if it keeps healing like it is." Annie stated before she got up to check on the other injured.

There was a couple of moments of silences when Dr. Ghazikhanian left. Piper was about to go back to sleep when Sam spoke.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"For what?" Piper asked curious.

"For what me and my friends did to you. For your frostbite." Sam elaborated.

Piper smiled up at him, "I like to consider that incident a learning experience. I appreciate your apology."

There was a moment of silence then Sam replied, "I appreciate your apology as well."

Piper looked down at the wall, smiling sadly, "Thanks."

"One more thing," Sam continued.

Piper looked back up to Sam, "What?"

"Can you move your head, I have to go pee." Sam asked.

"Oh! Of course," Piper replied as she lifted her head off of Sam's lap.


	6. Portal Conundrum

The personal mechanic lab of Tony Stark in Stark Tower was a mess. Math equations littered all six table tops and seven minor holographic screens. Coffee cups, fast food boxes, and machine parts littered the floor. Black soot in explosion shapes covered any visible areas on the floor, walls, and ceiling. In one major holographic screen was a three-dimensional version of the Stark Portal. Tony stared intently at the holo-screen. Math covered papers clutched in his hands.

Tony looked as bad as his lab. His hair, greasy and unkempt. His clothes looked like he hasn't changed out of his denim jumpsuit in weeks. Which had dark stains ranging from spilt coffee to oil spills. The man was muttering to himself as he was staring at the Portal model.

"Hi—"

Tony inhaled in fright and turned around quickly, dropping his papers. Behind him was Piper in her black and sky-blue X-Men outfit. Except her bandages replaced her gloves and boots and her brow hair was level with her shoulders. Tony relaxed and exhaled.

"—Mr. Stark" Piper finished. She looked down, apologetic for scaring Tony.

Tony rubbed one eye with his fingers, "Hi." Tony looked to the one door that lead to his lab and it was still closed. He looked back to Piper. "How did you get in here?" He asked as he placed his hands on his hips.

Looking back up Piper answered, "I crawled underneath the crack in the door." She smiled, proud of herself.

"Huh… How did you get here?" Tony asked.

Pointing over her shoulder towards the door Piper answered. "I hitched a ride with Ms. Munroe when I heard she wanted to come here and visit her husband." Then she placed her hands behind her back.

"Good for T'Challa." Tony said then turned back around to work on the portal.

Piper decided to stand beside him and stood in silence for a while. She rocked back in forth on her feet, "So… how have you been? Are you eating right?" Piper asked looking around the tech lab.

Tony shuffles through some math covered papers, "I've been better." He states while not looking at Piper.

Piper nods and stops her rocking.

"What happened to you?" Tony asked referring to the gray spots on Piper's face and the bandages around her arms, hands, legs, and feet. He has found the papers he was looking for.

"Oh, just a frostbite incident," Piper shrugged, "Nothing too serious."

"I heard about what happened at the X-Manor a couple of weeks ago." Tony stated as he walked off towards a work bench with some visible tools laying on top of it.

Piper followed from behind, "Yah, it wasn't the best thing to happen," she cringed.

"Well, tell Charles that he has my financial support if he needs it," Tony offered.

Piper smiled at the offer, "Alright. I'll tell him."

Tony sat his papers down on top of the work bench and picked up a wrench. Then he turned around to face Piper.

"You're wondering how the portal has been coming along." Tony told Piper.

Piper nodded her head, "Yah. I am. So…"

Tony started rubbing the wrench onto his eye and he sighed, "It hasn't been going well."

"How come," Piper asked.

"It, just doesn't make sense." He replied as he stopped rubbing his eye and leaned against the workbench. "I've rebuilt the stupid machine three times. The data I've collected from the first incident. It should have given me the info I need to recreated what happened when you went through it…"

"But…?"

Tony threw the wrench across the room in frustration, "But it's not!"

Piper flinched at the sound of the metal wrench hitting the metal wall.

"I've tried recalculating the math. I've tried different materials. And I've tried different versions of the Arc Reactor; nothing has been working." Tony growled in irritation and sleep deprivation as he stared off into the distance.

Piper lightly placed her hand on Tony's forearm, "Mr. Stark, breath with me."

Then Piper proceeded to guide Tony through slow breathing exercise. Exhaling and inhaling every five seconds. Until Piper felt that Tony was calmer. Piper then patted his forearm and stood back a bit.

Tony was staring at the floor, "I hate not knowing how you got here."

Piper thought about her home and the people she left behind then she sighed. "Hey, I appreciate you trying to help me. And it works like a normal portal should, right? That's cool. Plus, I know you did everything that you could." She consoled him.

There was a long pause then Tony looked to Piper with a grim face, "No. There's something that I haven't done yet." He started heading for the door as Piper stood in place watching him in confusion.

Tony tripped on some clothes as he was exiting his lab, "Alright, who's are these?"

"Oops! Those are mine. Sorry," Piper replied as she ran over to get her clothes from the floor.

# # #

Piper stood around in the living room of Stark Tower with a glass of orange juice on hand. She had on her civilian clothes; a light, white hoodie, a thin pair of blue jeans, and sandals. Hiding her X-uniform underneath. T'Challa and Ororo snuggled up together on the couched in front of the TV. Clint and Nat were sitting on the other side of the couch, leaning on each other platonically. In a love chair to the side of the room, Steve had a sketchbook in hand and appeared to be drawing the occupants in the room. Bruce sat on the windowsill behind the couch. Reading one of those old romance novels by the light of day. Lastly there was a loveseat opposite from Steve, empty.

Clint turned around to look at Piper, "Why don't you sit down and take a load off." He offered pointing to the loveseat.

Unmoving and still standing Piper took a sip of orange juice before answering, "No thank you, Mr. Barton. I've been on my backside for long enough. I want to stand."

"You should sit down Piper." Storm advised, "You're still healing from those stress fractures in your skin."

Piper sighed defeated, "Yes, Ms. Munroe." Then she walked over to the loveseat and plopped herself down.

"Also, just call me Clint," he stated casually.

Piper nodded in acknowledgement and proceeded to watch the TV with everyone else. Thirty minutes later J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke to Piper.

"Ms. Thatcher, Mr. Stark is ready to depart and would like you to go with him." He said in his calm synthetic voice.

Piper gave the celling a curious look, "Really?"

"Yes. Mr. Stark would like you to meet him in front of the elevator that leads to the lower floors." J.A.R.V.I.S. stated smoothly.

"Alright then," Piper got up from the loveseat. Her back popping as she got up then replied, "Tell Mr. Stark I'll be right there after I put away this glass."

"Very well, Ms. Thatcher," J.A.R.V.I.S. complied.

"Be back here by six, Okay." Storm called after Piper.

"Yes, Ma'am," Piper answered as she left.

# # #

Piper sat in the back of a fancy blue sports car with Tony. Tony's head laid slumped against the window. Piper looked through her flip-phone pictures again as he slept. The driver gently parked in front of a large two-story building. With wide, stain-glass windows arranged to look like a circle. The building looked older than any other buildings around the area.

"We're here," whispered the driver.

Piper looked up, smiled at the driver and gave him a thumbs up. "Thank you and don't worry. I'll be sure he doesn't get mad at you for driving us here late," Piper whispered back.

Piper then turned to the sleeping Stark and gently grabbed his shoulder. She then proceeded to shake Tony roughly and yelled, "HEY! WAKE UP! WE'RE HERE"

Sufficiently awake Tony asked, "What time is it?" As he rubbed away the sleep in his eyes.

"2:30." Piper answered.

"What! We should have gotten here at noon," Tony growled at his driver.

Piper interjected, "Hey! You look shitty and tired despite your bath and nice suit. As soon as he started driving, you fell asleep. I told your driver to get to where ever we were going to as slow as possible."

Tony pinched the ridge of his nose and sighed. "I'm sorry," he looked at the two of them, "I really am tired, but I've worked on less sleep before."

Before Tony and Piper got out of the sports car Tony tipped the driver a hundred dollars, "Stay close. Okay."

"Yes, sir." The driver stated cheerfully, taking the money.

As the driver drove away, Piper gave him a friendly thumbs up not caring if he saw it or not. Piper then went to stand beside Tony in front of the old building and placed her phone in her hoodie pocket.

"You fell asleep before you could explain anything. Why are we here? Why am I here with you?" She asked curiously.

"Well, since I can't seem to recreate the Portal Incident… I thought I would ask for some outside help. With different sources. And since we're trying to get you back home I thought it only fair that you should come along." Tony replied, the sound of reluctance of being here prevalent in his voice.

"That's nice. So, who's place is this?" Piper asked.

"Dr. Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer,. Tony answered and immediately jumped at the sound of Piper's shrill screaming.

Piper was jumping up and down as she squealed. Staring at the building with more excitement than Piper could possibly explain. Piper noticed Tony staring at her fangirling outburst, but she couldn't help herself. So through her excitement Piper asked:

"You have actual magicians in this universe? I love magicians," Piper squeaked. Trying to cover up her strange outburst.

"I personally don't believe in magic," Tony shrugged as he walked to the front door then knocked. "It's just another form of science that I haven't figured out yet."

Piper skipped towards the front door and bounced beside Tony, "Oh, well then you will love my universe then. All of our "magicians" are Illusionist and magic is a work of fiction." Piper replied not letting Stark's comment bring her down.

"Sounds nice." Said Tony.

"Yah, but that doesn't stop people from believing in it," Piper stated.

The front door creaked open. Once the door was open wide enough Tony stepped through. With Piper excitedly walking behind him.

The inside of the two-story building looked like a strange museum. There were many items on display in glass cases. Ranging from beautiful jewelry and clothes. To old items like tarnished staffs and mummified heads. Wall to wall there were books on every bookshelf. With more windows inside than previously perceived from outside. The farther you looked around the more you felt the was to see than what was near the front door. Right before the entryway was a T-shaped stairway. On top standing before the stair railing stood Dr. Strange. The door closed behind them.

He wore his iconic red cape. Then there were his normal clothes of all navy blue lose cloth wrappings and leather boots. Dr. Strange stood dignified and regal before Piper and Tony. Piper squealed quietly at the site of the man. Tony tried to look at Dr. Strange with a neutral face but couldn't help but radiate a feeling of annoyance.

"Ah, Mr. Stark." Dr. Strange greeted. Then he floated over the railing and onto ground level. Then he started walking towards the two guests. "What brings you here?"

The whole while Piper started squeaking louder. Grabbed Tony's arm and proceeded to shake Tony violently.

"Will you stop that," Tony shouted at Piper.

Piper lets go of him, "I'm sorry. I'm super excited right now. He just flew."

Dr. Strange stood in front of them, "Hello, young lady. I am Dr. Strange." Stephen offered his hand in greeting to Piper. Piper took it and shook vigorously.

Once Piper finished shaking Dr. Strange's gloved hand, he took it back and shook his hand lightly like it was in pain. "Strong grip you got there."

"Oh! I am so sorry. I tend to forget my own strength when I'm excited. This place is so cool; all of the books, the items in the glass displays, and you flying. That was so awesome!" Then Piper started to squealed extremely loud and jumped up and down while spinning. After she finished she exhaled and calmed down.

"Ow. My feet…Okay. I think I got it out of my system." Piper informed the two men.

Tony rubbed his eyes like he had just woken up from a hangover.

After a moment of staring at Piper, Dr. Strange turned to Tony. "I am not taking on any apprentices even if they are your secret daughters." He stated firmly.

Tony looked at Dr. Strange in shock, "That is not what we are here for and she's not my daughter. I… We need your help getting her back home." He said in a resigned tone.

Dr. Strange smiled in confusion, "My help…?" He looked at Piper for a moment. Then saw something about Piper that was unfamiliar to him.

"You're not from here, are you?" Dr. Strange asked, already knowing the answer.

Piper shook her head, "Nope. I'm not from this dimension." She confirmed.

"And you need my magical abilities to help you," He turned to Tony with a smug smile.

Tony glared, "Yes."

"How shall we do it?" Piper asked.

He turned back to Piper genuinely smiling. "Do you have anything from you're dimension that you brought with you. Don't worry if you don't. A chunk of your hair will work too."

Piper took out her flip phone and handed it to Dr. Strange.

"You know the coolest thing about going through that portal Mr. Stark made. It was when I brought my electronics with me. They never need recharging now, thanks to it." Piper stated.

"Wait, really?" Tony exclaimed. Then he started muttering to himself about the Arc Reactor and calculations and so on.

As Tony stood there mumbling Dr. Strange motioned for Piper to follow him. When the two of them were already up the stairs Tony snapped out of it and ran after them. Dr. Strange led them past a lot of closed doors on the second floor. What Piper could see was more books and artifacts. Finally, Dr. Strange entered an opened area. In the middle was what looked like a compass arrow suspended in the air. On it was a built in tiny basket. Surrounding the open area around the compass arrow were ten doors. Every minute a door would change from metal to wood. Blue to red. Flower design to striped design; it was like a room of ever changing doors.

"Whoa!" Piper breathed.

Dr. Strange smiled at Piper's childlike reaction.

Tony glared at the changing doors trying to figure out the science behind them.

"Welcome to the Room of Worlds." Dr. Strange introduced with a flourish. "These door ways are portals that constantly change from one world to another. And from one dimension to another."

Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

Piper squealed again in excitement but dialed it back and calmly breathed then said, "I am calm. I. Am. Calm."

"So," Tony asked skeptically, "How does this work?"

Dr. Strange placed Piper's flip phone in the little basket on the compass arrow. It started to move in erratic circles. "The Room of Worlds is like a bigger unfocused version of my Sling Ring but much more powerful. To focus the Room of Worlds an item from the desired destination must rest on the compass." He explained.

"Oh, that is so cool." Piper breathed.

"Alright then how is it powered? What are the dangers? What happened if someone steps through from the other side of these portals?" Tony asked hoping to trip up Dr. Strange.

"They run using this universe's ambient magical energy. That they draw from hidden crystals in the doors. And nobody's going to walk through those doors from the other side. They are one way only." Dr. Strange humored Tony.

"How is that possible?" Piper asked, "Cause a doorway is always both an exit and an entrance."

"True." Dr. Strange acknowledged, "But most doors you can push and pull at will. These doors can only be pushed one way and that is from our side."

"And the dangers," Tony asked again.

"Well you could get lost in an unfamiliar realm if you don't have a focus on the compass. It's especially dangerous for people who don't have Sling Rings. Then there's the crystals that help funnel the energy into the doors. If they broke, the energy that would escape from them could destroy half this building." Dr. Strange stated.

Tony was going to ask more questions but got interrupted by Piper's sudden gasp as she pointed to the compass. It had stopped moving spastically and it was pointing at a pitch-black door with no handle.

"Welp, I guess it's time for me to go," Piper said reluctantly. She then went over to Tony to shake his hand. "Thank you for all you have done for me. Will you tell the X-men and the rest of the Avengers I said goodbye and that I'll miss them?" Piper asked.

Tony uncrossed his arms and shook her hand in both of his as he smiled kindly at her, "Of course. You stay safe out there. Okay?"

Piper nodded her head and turned to Dr. Strange who was staring intently at the pitch-black door. Piper coughed to get the man's attention and extended her hand to shake his.

"Oh," He said as he noticed Piper wanted to shake hands. Then he extended his gloved hand to her and Piper made sure she shook his hand gently this time.

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Strange. If you would've allowed it. I would've definitely been your magical apprentice," Piper stated in farewell.

Piper released his hand. "It's a lot of hard work and study to be a sorcerer," Dr. Strange replied knowingly.

Piper smiled even wider at him, "I don't doubt that." Then she pointed to her phone in the compass, "Can I have my phone back before I go?"

"Sorry." Dr. Strange apologized. "That needs to stay in the compass if the doorway is going to stay where it is when you pass through it."

"…Okay then. I'll have to buy a new one then after I get a new job," Piper sighed.

Piper walked over to the pitch-black door. With one last wave goodbye to the two men she vanished through the door.

After a moment of silence Tony commented, "Well she's lucky."

"How so?" Dr. Strange asked as he took out the flip phone from the little basket on the compass arrow. The pitch-black doorway disappeared.

"Her dimension doesn't have all this convoluted magic in it," Tony complained as he gestured to the whole room.

Dr. Strange rolled his eyes, "Oh…? Wait. WHAT!" Dr. Strange shouted in a panic.


	7. Marvel's a Permanent Residence

Piper was walking through darkness that's as dark and infinite as a black hole. Without all the extra gravity. The darkness felt like it muted everything. Even the bandages on Piper's hands and feet felt less real as she walked on. Not knowing how long she's been walking Piper became bored out of her mind. Blinded by the darkness as she walked through this possible passageway between worlds. She didn't want to be without her hearing if she had decided to listen to her music. Leaving a lot of time to think.

"Wow, is this my soul?" Piper joked aloud to herself. Laughing lightly.

The darkness seemed to muffle even Piper's words.

"Tough crowd." Piper smirked to herself as she continued walking.

"Oh, if this is my soul then I must be soul searching," Piper blurted. Then stopped in her tracks to laugh hard at her own joke.

Once she had calmed down Piper continued walking.

"I wish I could've said bye to everyone," Piper muttered to herself. "I hope Ms. Munroe isn't too mad about me leaving like this… This is for the best. I guess. Having to say goodbye to everyone would've made it harder to leave."

Piper sighed, "How long have I been gone from home? Do the times zones correlate or is five months in the Marvel universe a hundred years in my universe…?"

Piper pocketed her hands and held her Ipod in her left hand in her pocket.

"Best not to think about it too much. I'll play with the cards I'm dealt with like I always have. I'll miss my best friend Joy, though, if it is a hundred years. That flip phone was the only thing I had of her and my home… And Grandma."

Piper walked in silence for a while.

"Man it's dark here. How much longer do I need to walk like this?" She asked herself.

Piper stopped walking for a moment as a thought popped into her head.

"Wait, what if I'm in a coma? I don't remember being in any kind of physical danger. Did a car hit me on my walk home? Wouldn't I remember something like that before going into a coma? Ugh, my brain hurts." Piper complained.

Piper continued walking again as she rubbed her eyes in pain. Then she placed her hands into her hoodie pocket.

"Jeez. This place is so creepy." Piper said to herself, "I mean sure it's only darkness. But I can't feel anything. No moister. No air. I don't even feel dirt building up in my sandals."

Piper looked left and right suspiciously.

"If I keep walking like this I could very well fall off a cliff or something. Maybe something is stalking. Maybe there's— Nope. No. No. No. Stop that Piper." Piper stopped walking to interrupt herself. "It's dark and you're alone. Don't start thinking about bad things or you'll end up freaking yourself out. Okay?... Okay."

Piper once again moved forward. She forced herself to think happy thoughts like: babies, being a mother, flowers, beating the asses of her enemies, and her favorite songs. Then there was a bright light in the distance. It was a welcome change, but blinded Piper. Piper didn't go towards the light but instead stood still as her eyes readjusted. She stared at the bright light.

"Okay." Piper said to herself. "A.) That's my way out and into my dimension. Dau.) That's some bioluminescent animal trying to lure me to my death. 3.) I am in limbo and that's the tunnel to whatever afterlife is popular right now."

Piper studied the bright light in the distance.

"Well, it's too bright to be any bioluminescent on any animal I know. I could be wrong though." Piper said to herself.

Then the light vanished.

Piper rushed forward slightly, stopped, then snapped her fingers in frustration. "Damn it."

Then the light flickered back on. Piper saw that a big, serpent like figure, swam past the light and disappeared into the darkness. Piper felt the blood pool away from her face and her heart started beating triple time. Next thing she knew, Piper was running full sprint for the light.

# # #

Tony Stark and Stephen Strange were still standing in the Room of Worlds and Piper had just left.

"What do you  _mean_  her dimension has no magic," Dr. Strange shouted in panic.

Tony backed up with his hands up, both confused and offended. "Hey! Why are you yelling?"

"Because," Dr. Strange said through his teeth. "That means her—"

"Piper." Tony told Dr. Strange.

"—Piper's world isn't connected to these doors. All dimensions have magic in them. That's why these doors are capable of doing what they are doing. If Piper's home dimension truly doesn't have magic. Then the doors could only substitute the closest thing."

"I take it that's bad," Tony stated, worried.

"Of course it's bad!" Dr. Strange shouted in frustration.

"Alright!" Tony shouted back. "What can we do then?"

Dr. Strange tossed the flip phone to Tony. "Put this back onto the compass. I'm going to gather some ingredients. Call me when the doorway is back up." He stated as he flew off.

Tony compiled and waited for the pitch-black portal to pop back up again and for Dr. Strange to return. He then called in one of his remote-control suits. Thinking that having a suit here will help in some way. Tony's remote-control suit arrived when the pitch-black door reappeared.

"Stephen! The portal's back up." Tony called as the suit mimicked his movements.

Dr. Strange flew in with a bunch of stuff in his arms, "It's Doctor Strange and you've brought over a suit. Good." He placed his things on the ground. A piece of white paper with a symbol painted on it, some herbs, an old coin and a magic dictionary book.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Why not Dr. Up Tight." Tony thought to himself.

"So where is Piper," Tony asked Dr. Strange as he examined the items from afar.

Dr. Strange sprinkled some of the herbs onto the wet paint. Making the white paper turn light blue. "She is in the Subnoctem dimension. I didn't recognize its doorway before since it's dimension doesn't have a lot of magic in it. Thus, not showing up as often as the other doorways do. But I can get her out of there with your help." He explained.

"What can I do?" Tony agreed.

Dr. Strange placed the coin in the center of the symbol and the whole paper started glowing. "If either one of us goes in their we'll be stuck in Subnoctem forever." He told Tony.

"You mean you can't use your Ring Sling and walk in their and save Piper?" Tony asked thinking it was an obvious and simple idea.

"No!" Dr. Strange growled. "Or I wouldn't worry about this. The Subnoctem dimension only has magic because is drains magic from the people that enter it. My spells and magical items are useless in there. That's why we need your suit to carry this into it."

Dr. Strange then placed the glowing piece of paper into the suit's hands.

"What is it?" Tony questioned.

"It's a portable magic portal I made to only activate when the next person touches it." Dr. Strange answered.

"Won't its magic drain in the Subnoctem dimension as well?" Tony stated.

"Yes, but slowly. The ancient coin has a lot of magic stored in it. Giving the spell a heavier magical charge and a better chance of lasting longer." Dr. Strange replied.

Tony and Dr. Strange set up the suit to walk into the pitch-black doorway. Then Tony ordered it to move forward and the suit disappeared into the darkness. The two stood in silence for a couple of seconds, staring at the doorway.

"Where will the magic portal send her, if Piper finds it." Tony questioned.

"It'll send her to one of the most magically charged places in the multiverse, Asgard." Dr. Strange answered.

Tony turned to look as Dr. Strange. "Do you think Piper will find your portal before it's too late," he asked worried.

Dr. Strange looked down at his feet and sighed. "I don't know. All we can do is hope and keep throwing lifeboats out to her."

Tony looked down as well. Then looked back up in a determined stance and said, "I'm going to miss that suit." Then he said, "I'm going to go call Thor." He left the Room of Worlds and then the Sanctum Sanctorum.

# # #

Piper's lungs were burning, and thick saliva started to build up in her open mouth. She ran as hard as her short legs would allow her. The source of light was farther than Piper previously judged but still she ran. Never relenting. The adrenalin in her system helped keep her going. As a stitch in she side started to stab Piper she had reached the source of the light. A glowing piece of paper and an unmoving Stark Suit. Taking a moment to catch her breath Piper reached out to examine the glowing piece of paper.

Piper was instantly blind by a pure white light that engulfed her being. Her stomach dropped as she felt herself fall from a great height. Then the light seemed to squeeze Piper into a tight box. Finally everything was still and the world was bright again as Piper stood among clouds. Piper looked around in disbelief. She dropped face first onto the floor and embraced her surroundings. Laughing hysterically.

Once she had calmed down Piper finally noticed the see-through rainbow ground. Before she could understand what that meant she heard a man's battle cry. As Piper stood up a giant golden sword slashed down in front of her. Right where she had been lying down. She locked eyes with the wielder of the sword. It was the Guardian of Asgard, Heimdall. He wore golden armor and a golden helmet with horns. His bright orange eyes burned through Piper with mistrust and anger. He slashed at Piper again.

"Whoa!" Piper dodged his attacks, "I come in peace! I come in peace!" Piper cried out in panic.

"You are trespassing—" Slash. "—on the holy grounds—" Swing. "—of Asgard!" He yelled stubbornly.

"I'm sorry!" Piper shouted. Heimdall managed to hit Piper in the shoulder. Her body naturally split apart and reconnected with only her hoodie taking damage. "Listen. "I'm a friend of Thor."

Heimdall paused for a second. "Are you now." He stated skeptically.

Piper nodded her head vigorously. "I don't expect you to believe me on my word. If you call Thor to the entrance here, he'll confirm, and you'll know we're allies." She offered in truce.

Heimdall stared at Piper, mistrustful of her offer. Still in a defensive position with his sword pointed at her. The man grabbed at a small horn from his belt that's next to a bigger horn. Still staring at Piper, Heimdall blew into the small horn. Three short, high pitched toots sounded from it then one long, high pitched toot. He then placed the horn back on his belt as he and Piper waited for who Piper guessed was for Thor.

A minute or two into this standoff Piper saw behind Heimdall Thor fly over the bronze entrance to Asgard. He landed beside Heimdall with hammer in hand.

"You called, my friend." Then he noticed Piper. "Piper!" He rushed to her and embraced her in a bear hug.

Piper groaned, "It's good to see you again too, big guy." She patted Thor's back.

Heimdall relaxed and put away his sword at the friendly display.

Thor backed away from the hug and Piper could breathe easy. "It's good to see you, Piper. Your hair is longer than when I last saw you," Thor commented.

Piper went to comb her hair, "Yah, I don't—." Piper then looked at her hair. She noticed that instead of being shoulder length her hair had grown past her shoulders. "How long was I in there." Piper thought to herself. Then she turned back to Thor. "Yah, it's pretty long."

Thor turned to Heimdall. Excited. "Heimdall, this is Piper. A friend of the Avengers. Piper, this is Heimdall. Our gatekeeper to Asgard. Thank you for calling me." Thor introduced them to each other.

"She said you were friends. I'm glad you were able to prove her right," Heimdall stated.

Everybody started heading to the gateway.

"How did you get here?" Thor asked Piper out of curiosity.

"It's a long story." Piper answered. "The short version is Dr. Strange and Mr. Stark tried to help me get back to my dimension but it didn't work out very well."

Thor and Piper left Heimdall at the entrance of the gate. The two of them continued into the medieval looking village of Asgard.

"Well I'm happy you're here" Thor stated as he roughly patted Piper on the back.

Piper stumbled forward with a laugh, "Thanks. I'm glad to be here too."

Piper looked around the village and saw pretty decorations were up. With fancy shields, colored fires being lit, and performers doing various tricks.

"What's the occasion," Piper asked pointing to all the festivities.

"This is the day we Celebrate the defeat of Ymir and the creation of the worlds we know today." Thor answered as he waved to the people they passed.

A vender shoved mugs of mead into Thor and Piper's hands. Startled Piper tried to give it back, but the vender moved on and Thor gladly drank from his mug. Piper held onto the cup, unsure as they continued to walk. Thor then threw down the clay mug and it shattered on the cobble stone road.

"Are you not going to drink your beverage?" Thor questioned.

"I'm not twenty-one yet," Piper stated.

Thor laughed, "Why does that matter?"

Piper took a moment to think about it. "Well, I did turn eighteen this August. So it's legal to drink at that age somewhere." Piper reasoned then she chugged the mead like she saw Thor do and then threw it to the ground. The drink was warm and sweet with honey. Piper smiled up at Thor. He laughed and shook her by the shoulders lightly.

"Excellent!" Thor stated proudly.

Piper then notice that they were in front of a large building. It was a castle that looked like it's made of cylinders. The cylinders worked their way up to the center where there was only one tall cylinder in the middle. Its color was a blinding white gold. Despite how fancy the castle looked. It complemented the look of the village below it, nicely. Like a mother bird resting herself over her chicks.

"You have a lovely home." Piper complemented him.

As they entered the castle Thor smiled at the complement. "Thank you, Piper."

The inside of the castle was as grand as the outside. Tall pillars held up the curved ceilings. Flowers adorned every entrance. With the statue to commemorate the heroes of Asgard standing against the walls. Thor lead Piper to the Great Hall of the castle. Upon arrival Piper could hear: loud laughter, music, the sound of silverware and wood knocking around, and maybe a fistfight. Once inside the Great Hall Piper could see that she was right on all accounts of what she heard. Big, gruff looking women and men eating large portions of meat. Some dancing in the center of the room, fist fights to the left. Music next to the throne where it was able to project more sound, and in the throne itself was Odin. Drinking mead and enjoying the festivities with all his subjects.

Seeing comic book characters in person is always a mental trip. Especially once you get alcohol inside you. Piper couldn't help but stare at the old man with his long white hair. His cool half scarred face covered by a fancy looking eye patch. And wearing casual armor and a long, golden cape like Thor's red cape. Piper turned to Thor as they continued to walk up to Thor's father. Not knowing if he wanted to introduce them to each other or not. Before Piper could put any more thought into it Odin spotted his son.

"Thor! I see you have brought a visitor." Odin cheerfully shouted which caused the musicians to stop playing. Everybody in the Great Hall turned to Thor, Piper, and Odin. Piper couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious.

Odin got up and hugged his son when Thor and Piper reached his throne. Then Odin turned to Piper with a smile, "Is this what Heimdall called you for?"

Thor smiled, "Yes. This is my friend from Midgard. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Thor encouraged Piper.

Piper didn't know whether to bow or to shake Odin's hand. In a fit of nerves Piper did both. "Hi. I'm Piper Thatcher Noonesdaughter." Piper introduced herself.

Odin laughed uproariously and so did the rest of the people in the Great Hall. Odin took Piper's bandaged hand and shook it as Piper straightened. "No need to be so formal. We're glad you are here. Come, drink! Let the music play!" Odin shouted and the music started up again as Odin sat back down on his throne. Everybody returned to the festivities.

Thor patted Piper on the shoulder encouragingly, "I would say that was a good impression. Come! You must meet my friends." Thor then lead Piper to a small gathered group of people.

Piper saw a large, rotund man in purple, cloth like armor with impressive biceps. Next to the man in purple was an even larger man sitting at the table eating his weight worth in meat and mead. His yellow feathered helmet bobbing as he got grease stains all over his pink shirt. Sitting on the table's edge was a man who looked like he was going through an armored, goth faze. His wide fuzzy hat shadowed his eyes as he fiddled with his mace. Leaning against a pillar were two people, a man and a woman. The lean, blond man wearing a Robin Hood esc outfit, leaned against the pillar in a flirting stance towards the impossibly, tall woman in red robes. She tucked her black hair behind her ear as she rolled her eyes at the blond-haired man as he talked to her.

"My friends! Meet my little friend, Piper," Thor merrily greeted his friends.

The five of them turned to Thor with a smile and looked to Piper. Thor pointed out his friends as he named them.

"That's my brother, Balder." Thor pointed at the man in purple. "Those three are the Warriors Three, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral." Thor said as he pointed to the big guy, goth guy, and Robin Hood guy. "Finally, Lady Sif, the shield maiden." Thor pointed out the tall woman.

Piper gave them all a small smile and a slight wave. "Hi."

Hogun nodded his head at Piper in acknowledgment.

Balder returned Piper's small wave and smile.

Volstagg laughed loudly, "Welcome Noonesdaughter. Come and enjoy this great feast before the battle begins."

Sif walked up to Piper and started examining her; touching her hair, holding Piper's bandaged hands to look at them, and making Piper look into her eyes. "She has a lone warrior's spirit and a motherly heart." Sif said as she turned to Thor. "She'd make a great shield maiden."

"I knew you'd like her," Thor stated proudly.

Fandral walked up to Piper with a suave grin. His friends collectively rolled their eyes at him. Fandral offered his hand for Piper to shake. Piper took Fandral's hand, suspecting what he might do next.

"It's a pleasure to meet a beautiful, young, flower such as yourself, Noonesdaughter." Fandral flirted. Then he went to kiss the back of Piper's hand.

Before he could do it, Piper pulled her hand away and punch Fandral hard in the gut. Causing him to fall onto his knees and gasp for breath. The five friends didn't even blink at Fandral's sudden breathlessness or at the fact that Piper punched him. Hogun sighed, grabbed a full mug of mead, jumped down from the table, and went to tend to Fandral. Volstagg and Balder were chatting with each other and Thor and Sif were talking with each other like Piper has done nothing out of the ordinary. Piper decided to sit awkwardly at the table with Volstagg and take off her bandages to look at her hands.

When she punched Fandral, Piper noticed that she didn't feel any pain. Come to think of it, Piper hadn't felt any kind of pain in her feet or hands since she left that dark dimension. After undoing her bandages. Piper saw that her hands to her elbows were gray from the effects of the frostbite. Like her nose, ears, and mouth, but the fractures had healed. There were only slivers of small scars all across her hands and forearms.

"Dr. Ghazikhanian said my hands and feet were going to take at least three months to heal." Piper thought to herself. "Does that mean I was in that dark dimension for three months or longer?"

Before Piper could delve too deeply into the small, time gap of her life. A deep horn rang throughout Asgard. Then with celebrity craze, Asgardian warrior's friendly brawls, music, and feasting ended. Everyone ran out of the castle lead by Odin with Thor dragging Piper with him. Everyone from the Great Hall stationed themselves outside the gates of Asgard. As Thor positioned himself and Piper near the front lines Piper could see an army. An army of tall, blue frost giants marching towards Asgard.

Piper stared at her surroundings in confusion then asked Thor. "Is this apart of what ever you call this holiday?"

Thor stared straight ahead at the on coming army with a gleam of determination in his eyes. "The defeat of Ymir didn't bring the rest of the frost giants much joy. Every year they try to destroy Asgard in revenge." He explained.

"I've never fought an army before." Piper stated nervously as she thought of the fist fights she got into when she was younger.

The army of frost giants approached closer. Piper was able to see more individuals than a blob of people. She could hear their collective chants clearly.

Thor placed his hand on Piper's shoulders, "Then I'm glad you are here to experience your first battle with me, Piper." He replied sincerely.

Piper smiled and patted Thor's hand on her shoulder because of how sweet that was. Deep down, however, she also would rather not do this at all.

The army of frost giants were close enough now that Piper could see individual weapons on them. Able to hear their feet stomping rhythmically with their chanting. Then a volley of arrows streaked the sky. Coming right towards the Asgardian warriors and Piper. Everyone managed to protect themselves from the arrows. Then directed by Odin from the back, everyone charged at the frost giants.

# # #

After several hours of fighting, the Warriors of Asgard once again defended their home successfully. Villagers passed mead and water around as healers tended to the wounded. Songs were being sung as the warriors chatted to one another and to the visitors from the village. Piper slept soundly in the nook of Thor's arm. She looked like a sleepy kitten next to a large dog sitting on the ground still covered in frost giant blood. Thor looked over at his comrades and felt pride at the new won battle. Thor then felt his Avenger communicator card vibrate and he took it out to answer it.

"I've been trying to call you for hours Thor. What have you been doing?" Tony complained as soon as the screen flashed on.

"My apologies Man of Iron. Today was the Defeat of Ymir. We finished another grand battle with the frost giants," Thor apologized.

Tony sighed, "No. It's okay. I forgot you told us about this. The reason I'm calling is to ask if Piper is there with you."

Thor turned the visual communicator to the sleeping Piper. "Yes, she is with me and is well."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank God."

Thor turned the visual communicator back to himself. "She told me there was another failure to getting her back home."

Tony was silent for a while. Not looking Thor in the eye. Then he replied, "I'm not sure we'll ever get her back home. Dr. Strange can't help her and I can't recreate the incident that brought her here in the first place. Her home doesn't seem like a place that we can reach easily."

"Then we'll be her new home," Thor replied simply.

Tony chuckled sadly, "She might not have a choice. Bring her back to Stark Tower. Ms. Munroe is worried sick about her."

"I'll have Heimdall open the Bifrost and we'll be there in a minute." Thor answered.

Thor then hung up his communicator, picked up the sleeping Piper and went to find Heimdall to go back to New York.


	8. Clap Back, Back Fire

The brown eyed, brown haired X-man/unofficial member of the Avengers, Piper Thatcher. She struggled to find the proper tool in the Blackbird. The proper tool, to defeat that scary raccoon that she found in the trash she got tasked to take out for the night. Why was she in the Blackbird trying to find a weapon to get rid of a raccoon instead of using a broom? Well, Piper was on the mindset that using a broom wouldn't be effective enough. After rummaging around the half-lit darkness of the weapons area, Piper managed to spot a hand gun. It seemed effective enough. When she grabbed the gun, Piper heard the engines start to warm up. Piper ran up the ladder leading to the cockpit and opened the hatch with a bang.

"Wait! I'm still in here!" Piper shouted but she was only greeted by the shocked faces of the trio; Sam, Cal, and Kevin. Clothed in their super suits and not in their pajamas.

Sam was the one who recovered first and continued pressing buttons on the console. Acting like a professional flyer. Cal gave Piper a nervous wave with his wing and Kevin decided to take a selfie of the moment. Then the Blackbird started to lift off into the opening hanger doors above.

"What the hell is going on!" said Piper.

"We'll tell you once we get going," Kevin said.

Then all four of them flinched as three voices started streaming into their minds.

 _"Land the Blackbird, now,"_  said Professor Xavier.

 _"You're all grounded for four months,"_  said Jean.

"I have nothing to do with this," Piper said.

 _"Where do you think you're going,"_  demanded Emma Frost.

"Where do you think? You're the mind readers," Sam said.

Then Piper, Kevin, Cal, and Sam fell backwards at the forced of the Blackbird's propulsion into the night.

"Sam, slow it down," Cal asked Sam from the floor.

"A few more seconds," Sam said.

"Come on dude!" Kevin pleaded.

"Do you even know how to drive this thing," Piper said.

Finally, Sam slowed the plane down and he ordered Cal to put in coordinates. Piper climbed all the way out of the weapon storage area and threw the gun back in before closing the hatch.

"Can I have that explanation now, or so help me I  **will**  make this plane crash so our teachers can come pick us up," Piper said.

Without looked at her Sam said, "You first, why were you in the weapon storage?"

"I am not playing that game with you. Cal?" Piper said.

"The X-men found a Sentinel base and they said they have— might have people in it," Cal replied.

Piper sighed with great exaggeration.

"Since you're here, you can protect the ship while we get into the base." Kevin offered, "But we only brought three ear pieces so we won't be able to stay in contact with you."

Piper rubbed her eyes then said, "Look, I'll keep an eye on the plane, but you each need to take a piece of me with you. Then tell me how to turn on the Blackbird for a quicker get away."

"A piece of you?" Cal question.

"Yah, it's a new thing I figured out I can do. Watch," Piper said as she pulled off her left pinkie finger.

Kevin almost fainted at the sight. Then she tossed her pinkie at Cal.

"Uh… are you growing that back?" Cal asked.

"No, it's still connected to me by a thin line of my various tissues. Watch me wiggle it," Piper said as she wiggled her pinkie finger in Cal's hand. Cal dropped it and Kevin sat down for a moment as Piper's finger slithered back up to her hand.

"That's freaky," Kevin said.

"It's perfect for Halloween this year," Piper said, smiling a devious smile.

"We're here," Sam said.

It was a rough landing, but Sam managed to land it. They were in a clearing in the middle of a timber about a mile away from the Sentinel factory. Sam showed Piper how to turn on the Blackbird. Then four of them agreed that they would squeeze a finger of Piper's if they were ready to get out of there. If they dropped her finger she'd be back up; wiggling her finger to show she was coming.

Before they left Piper asked, "Is there any way I can persuade you to take us back home?"

"Piper, the X-men were going to blow up this building without even looking for other mutants. We have to try and save them," Sam said.

Kevin added, "And we're not going to let him go alone."

Cal nodded.

# # #

Calvin flew ahead and was circling high above the factory, "Mimic checking in. Guards have been circling the premise next to the chain-link fence. They moving clockwise and pausing for a minute before continuing. I also see structures that look like hidden turrets. The darkest part of the exterior is west side, the moon and their personal lights will blind them to the dark."

"Cannonball here. We read you loud and clear. We're making our way and be safe up there," Sam said.

"Copy that."

Sam and Kevin made their way to the west side of the factory. Once they got to the fence and waited for the patrol to pass, they checked to see if the fence was electric. It was.

"We're going to need to turn that off if we're going to get as many people out of here as possible," Kevin said.

"If we don't find the fuse box, I'll have to ram it down," Sam replied.

Kevin shape shifted into having wings and flew Sam and himself over the fence. Once by the wall, Kevin covered Sam as he focused his propulsion powers into his finger. Then he cut through the metal wall. Making a hole big enough for them to squeeze through. They both managed to get in and cover the hole back up without anyone noticing.

"Changeling here. We're in," Kevin said.

"Copy that. I'll work on the sabotage of the outer defenses," Calvin said.

"We copy," Sam said.

The interior of the factory was the most advanced assembly factory one could imagine. With stainless-steel walls, spotless florescent lights, and a couple of conveyor belts filled the area. Automatic wielders, bolt guns, and power bolt screws lined the conveyor belts. They're building various pieces of Sentinels. The pieces moved on to a separate room. People in denim jumpsuits and hardhats walked around the machines. They were applying oil or checking systems.

Sam signaled Kevin to look up to see a catwalk leading to a second floor. Staying in the shadows, the two made their way up there and tried to make sure they were above everyone's line of sight. Surveying the area, Sam made the motion to Kevin to follow him against the flow of the machines. The two had some close calls with the workers and guards. Finally, the two came upon a surveillance room.

They knocked out the surveillance guard. Then after taking his clothes, and tying him up; Sam and Kevin examined the videos. The two dozen video cameras pointed at empty rooms.

"Why are these rooms empty," Kevin asked.

"I don't know. Maybe their—"

"—Look!" Kevin said pointing at a lower right screen. There were a few people getting dragged out by the guards.

Calvin radioed in, "Guy's something's up. The patrol has run back inside. They might have noticed my sabotages."

"Copy that. We could have tripped a silent alarm inside too. They've moved our people, have you been able to set the traps?" Sam said.

"I've booby trapped the north and east side of the factory. About to lay out on the south," Calvin said.

Kevin replied, "We copy. Stay hidden, Mimic. We want you to back up Piper, when we call for her."

"That's a copy."

Kevin shape shifted to look like the surveillance man. Then he dawned his uniform to better help the prisoners. Sam went to survey the area for an escape route. After several minutes of radio silence Sam saw several guards. They were all looking around on high alert. Then Kevin radioed in.

"Cannonball, Mimic. Do you copy?" Kevin whispered.

"I hear you," Calvin said.

"I'm here, Changeling. What's your status?" Sam said.

"We need to get the prisoner's out of here. Now," Kevin said.

"What's happened," Sam asked.

"It's what they're doing with the Sentinels. To our people. Their—"

Kevin got cut off by a loud explosion. Sam felt it rumble through out the factory. Emergency alarms were blaring and red lights were flashing.

"Changeling! Do you copy?" Calvin shouted through the radio, "Kevin!"

Sam made a mad dash towards the explosion. Knocking aside surprised guards and shielding himself from their gun fire. Once he found the area, what he saw only confirmed what he dreaded. What was once the end of an assembly line was now a chard wreck with a spider shaped Sentinel in the middle of the room. Bodies were lying prone all around the room, scattered with the glass. They're also covered in a weird smelling liquid. The spider turned towards Sam.

"Mutant detected." It said in a happy, robotic voice. Then a large, cannon gun rose up out of its body. The sound of electricity emanated from the cannon gun as a bright red light was shining in its barrel.

With armed guards approaching from behind and the Spider Sentinel about to shoot. Sam froze. He didn't know what to do. Then, as the spider was about to shoot him, Colossus rammed into it. After ramming the Sentinel, Colossus collapsed.

"Mr. Rasputin!" Sam shouted. The force was strong enough to tip the Spider Sentinel over, causing it to miss. It burned a huge hole through the wall and another explosion happened.

"Sam! Please say you're there," pleaded Calvin.

"I'm here." He said as he watched Colossus shrink down to Kevin's bloody, twig body. Then from behind a bullet bit him in the calf, spurring Sam into action.

Sam limped over to Kevin and using both his hands, raised his propulsion shields. It was protecting them from the gun fire, but he didn't know if he could with stand the new Sentinel's fire power. The Sentinel was starting to get back on its feet. Kevin grabbed Sam's good leg to get his attention.

Kevin pointed to the left and rasped, "Sam. Over there. Someone's still alive."

Sam nodded. Then he helped Kevin up and they shuffled over to where he pointed. In the rubble, breathing light, was a little five-year-old boy. With the physical appearance of a fish person. The gills on his neck were twitching, but he didn't look like he was struggling to breath. The Spider Sentinel back on its feet. It was readying another attack. Guards were pinning them down with gun fire, Sam didn't know what else to do except call for help. He was about to radio Calvin, when the finger Piper gave him wriggled out of his pocket.

# # #

From the Blackbird, Piper heard the sound of a distant explosion. Then a few minutes later, she felt her pinkie finger free fall and hit the ground. She turned on the plane and super jumped 4 times towards the Sentinel factory. Outside the factory, it was chaos with guards caught in ice traps and lying unconscious on the ground. Calvin flew towards Piper.

"We need to get everyone out of here. You find—"

Calvin got cut off by another explosion. This time they saw a red beam past them.

"Sam! Please say you're there," Calvin said through his radio.

Piper didn't give Calvin time to respond, "I'm not doing anything alone. You're coming with me. Come on," She said pulling him towards the gaping wound of the factory. Instead of running, Calvin picked up Piper and flew themselves over the building.

"Cal, throw me!"

"What?"

"There! Throw me there!" Piper said pointing with her foot.

Unsure, but willing, Calvin threw Piper as hard as he could at the roof. Soaring through the air like a bullet Piper morphed her form into a human sized, pointy, wedge. She tore straight through the ceiling and three floors. Exactly where she felt her detached fingers. In the process she tipped over the loaded Spider Sentinel. Another shot, missing Sam and Kevin and another explosion reverberated throughout the facility. Moving in her goop form, Piper charged the guards shooting at them. She took away and knocked out all the thirty guards currently occupying the room. Even more were coming and so were the sounds of more Sentinels.

Calvin flew through the opening in the ceiling, "Come on, we need to leave."

Sam dropped his shields and picked up the fish-person child, "Take him to the ship."

The Spider Sentinel got up, "Scanning… More Mutants present. Recalculating," it said, putting away it's cannon. Then smaller pistol looking guns rose out of the joints of the Spider Sentinel's eight legs. Four aimed at Piper and four aimed at the boys. Calvin took the kid and started flying away through the hole in the ceiling.

The Spider Sentinel fired rapid, consecutive shots at everyone. Piper got hit several times. Sam managed to cover Calvin as he escaped. Yet, he got hit in the shoulders and pelvis, making him fall to his knees. Then he redirected his shielding back onto himself and Kevin. The sounds of the giant Sentinel's footsteps were growing closer.

"Kevin, show me where the others are," Sam said.

Piper managed most of the guards. They were now fleeing to escape the gun fire of the Spider Sentinel. She was worming her way towards the Spider Sentinel to try and take it on.

"Sam, we can't. We need to leave," Kevin said.

"We can't leave them here. There could be more alive in here," Sam said.

Kevin got up to Sam's eye level and put a hand on his shoulder. Sam looked at his bloody and bruised friend and met his eyes. Then he looked at Piper as she struggled to take on the Spider Sentinel. Her powerful blows seeming to have no effect on the thing. She was being torn apart by its gun fire. He looked out at the still bodies among the rubble. Then with tears starting to burn his eyes, Sam nodded at his friend. "Okay."

Kevin yelled, "Piper, retreat."

Sam and Kevin put their arms around each other and flew through the ceiling. Piper trailed behind them. As they managed to get out of the building, five Sentinels had surrounded the factory.

"Piper, hold on to me," Sam said.

"No, you're too injured, just go. I'll be right behind you," Piper said as she slithered along the roof behind them.

The Sentinels eye's glowed red, readying to fire at the three teenagers. Without another word, Sam dived down to pick up Piper. Missing getting hit by the lasers, only getting singed from how close they were to the lasers. Sam flew as quickly as he could with his injuries and the weight of his team. The giant Sentinels following not that far behind.

Sam, Kevin, and Piper managed to get to the Blackbird. Calvin was sitting of the floor with the fish-person boy in his lap. Piper collapse face first onto the ground, naked and reformed to her natural shape. Kevin managed to close the port hatch and collapsed next to Piper. Sam raced with a limp to the control panel and flew the ship into the air. Once again, dodging the Sentinel's eye beams.

Once they were far enough away Sam asked, "Can anyone get the first aid kit?"

Calvin slowly got up and gently laid down the child on the floor, crossing his arms across his chest, "I got it."

Calvin found a space blanket for Piper. Then he started to wrap the wounds of his friends that were currently bleeding out. Then the wounds that were the cause of the Spider Sentinel's beam guns.

# # #

When the four of them got home, they told them their story. Sam told the X-men that Piper had nothing to do with their plan and told them why they did what they did. Kevin told the X-men about the people who are creating the new Sentinels. How they were breaking down Mutants into some sort of goo and inserting them into the Sentinels. Calvin told them that the boy died in his arms as. Right before he made it to the Blackbird. Finally, Piper told the X-men why she was in the Blackbird in the first place. Then her encounter with the new Sentinel. Saying it was tough and seemed to have a regenerative ability.

Piper got grounded for a week. For the irresponsible move of trying to get a weapon from the Blackbird to take care of a raccoon. The boys got grounded the four months like Jean said. For the moment, the four of them were alone in the medical room of the mansion.

Piper sat on a bed, with Sam, Calvin and Kevin laying in their own beds. They were all taken care of by Dr. Ghazikhanian who said she'd call in a friend tonight. So that tomorrow Piper and the boy's wounds would get looked over by a specialist. Calvin got off easy. He got only a few bullet wound grazes and a concussion from falling down, face first at some point. He doesn't remember ever falling. Sam was second lucky. Having most of his wounds, like the bullet that hit him in the calf missed the bone and passed through the skin. The laser shots to his pelvis, collarbone, and shoulders though, were a different story. Piper had no bullet wounds, but several holes dotted her body from the laser guns. Making her look like a human Swiss cheese. Since she was in her goop form though, she managed to keep her major internal organs safe from the onslaught. Then there were these strange burn marks all over her body, like on Kevin. Kevin had it the worst. He had three fractured ribs and one broken rib, a broken wrist and leg, a concussion, and strange burn marks on his skin. Like he got splashed with something and not randomly stepping in it like Piper's burn marks looked like.

Piper watched as the three boys cried. Not knowing what to do for them or what to say. Piper silently prayed to all the Marvel Gods she knew. To give all those unnamed characters a peaceful after life. Especially for the children.


	9. Damn it Deadpool!

It was after breakfast and Piper was walking to her rebuilt room. Then her flip-phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Thatcher?" Dr. Strange asked.

"No, this is Xavier. We're having a body switching incident," Piper said.

"Oh, what happened?" he said with a serious tone.

Piper couldn't help but laugh a little. She waved at her classmates as they gave her looks as they passed each other.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm joking. What did you call me for?" Piper asked.

There was a moment of silence. Piper couldn't help but get the feeling that Dr. Strange was regretting calling.

"Before I ask my initial question, I would like to ask if you're healed from you frost bite from last time we met? Dr. Strange asked.

Piper looked at her freshly bandaged arms from the factory incident two weeks ago. She grabbed her bedroom doorknob, "Yep, my frost bite is totally healed."

As soon as Piper walked into her room, she saw Deadpool laying on her bed listening to her iPod. This cameo shocked her so much that she missed what Dr. Strange requested of her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say," Piper asked as she walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She stood before her door.

"I said that I would like to perform some additional magical tests on you, if that's alright?" Dr. Strange said.

Deadpool waved at Piper as she said, "Oh I don't mind, but I got un-grounded a week ago. So, I'll need to double check with my guardians if I can visit you or not." Piper waved back at Deadpool.

"Mmm, understandable. Call me back and I'll create a portal for you," Dr. Strange agreed.

"Hey, why do you want to perform more tests?" Piper asked.

"I would like to know how magic affects you and how you in turn affect the magic. I would like to know if you being here in our reality will somehow affect the fabric of space-time." Dr. Strange answered.

Piper stared into the distance for a moment, "You know, that is a good question. I wouldn't want to destroy this world by existing."

Deadpool pulled at ear bud out, "Destroy what now?"

Piper ignored him, "Alright sir, see you then." Then she hung up.

Piper gathered a change of clothes from her wardrobe and went to her bathroom to change. When she came out Deadpool was still relaxing on her bed. She walked up to him. As Piper stood in front of Deadpool, she could see the exposed skin on his face moving ever so slightly on his chin.

"Can I have my iPod back, please," Piper asked.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Deadpool said.

"You and I both know you are perfectly capable of reading the text that's forming above our heads as we talk. Read back a bit," Piper said.

Deadpool sat up, "I can't. It disappeared after you said "Alright sir", but that's beside the point now. You can see the texts too?"

"No, but I know they're there… They are above our heads, right?" Piper asked.

"Only with long dialogues like this."

Piper nodded, "So, uh," she pointed at her iPod in his hand.

"We'll?" He replied expectantly as he pulled his masked down.

Piper sighed, "Fine. Dr. Strange's worried my existence might destroy the reality we live in and he wants to make sure that's not the case."

Deadpool handed Piper her iPod and earbuds. She stuffed it into the same pocket that's holding her flip-phone. "Do you need me to take you to Mr. Howlett or Mr. Rasputin or someone else?" Piper said as she left her room and Deadpool followed behind.

"Who's Mr. Howl-let? Deadpool asked.

"Logan."

Deadpool started laughing, "Wait, that's his last name? Oh, the jokes I can make with that."

Piper couldn't help but smile at his glee, "So? Mr. Rasputin then?"

"Huh, oh, yah. I don't feel like seeing the hairy midget today. I need a healthy dose of some sexy iron supplements," Deadpool answered.

Piper led Deadpool to the last place she saw Mr. Rasputin. He was helping Ms. Frost clean the dishes in the kitchen. Jean was sitting at the round table, using her telekinesis to put away the plates and silverware. Sitting with her was Ms. Munroe, T'Challa, and Mr. Worthington.

"Mr. Rasputin, I brought you someone," Piper announced.

Before Mr. Rasputin could turn around Deadpool walked up to the metal giant and gave him a big hug. His arms barely wrapped around Mr. Rasputin.

"Hello, big guy," Deadpool said.

Mr. Rasputin was smiling and was about to say something. Then he frowned and instead said, "Please take your hands off my ass, Wade."

It took him a second but he did as asked. As those two were talking to each other Piper went over to the table to talk with Ms. Munroe.

"Dr. Strange invited me over, is it okay for me to go?" Piper asked.

"It's been a week already?" Mr. Worthington said while stretching his wings.

"Have you taken your medicine?" Ms. Munroe asked.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You've cleaned your wounds?" T'Challa asked.

"Yes, Sir."

They continued to question Piper like that for a good minute.

"So, can I go or not?" Piper asked feeling a little impatient.

T'Challa said, "I'm fine with it if you are, Ororo."

"I would feel better about it if she had someone go with her, in case something happened. I would go with her, but I have a class to teach today," Ms. Munroe said.

"I could—" T'Challa was about to say but then Deadpool interrupted.

"—Oh! Pick me! I'll go."

"I thought you needed some iron supplements," Piper said.

At hearing that Mr. Rasputin went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed some pills for Deadpool to take. Said that he's glad that Wade is starting to take his health seriously and went back to doing the dishes. Through the mask Piper got the feeling that Deadpool was glaring at her. Mentally saying at Piper that, that is not what he meant and that he knows that she knows that isn't what he meant. Piper gave him a mischievous smile as he ate the supplements.

"I think it would be best if you visited Kevin and Sam in our medical bay. They could use a laugh," Mr. Worthington interjected.

"I already did. That's actually why I came in the first place, since I heard what happened," Deadpool said.

"Well, then we'll both go," T'Challa said.

"Ugh, fine," Deadpool turned to Piper, "I guess we're not going to have a one on one adventure this chapter."

Piper nodded, "That's for the best, my bones are like swiss cheese right now."

Deadpool was silent for a moment, "I'll ask about that later."

# # #

The Sanctum Sanctorum was as Piper remembered it from last time. Only the artifacts were in different positions. Making her think that Dr. Strange had finished rearranged his house while cleaning. The books on their shelves seemed to be moving around, probably getting rearranged in a new order. Dr. Strange greeted them at the bottom of the T-shaped stairway.

"Ms. Thatcher, I thought you said you recovered from your frost bite?" Dr. Strange said as T'Challa, Deadpool, and Piper walked through the portal.

"I am, Sir."

"Why would she need to be healed to visit you, Dr. Strange," T'Challa asked.

"I invited her here to perform some magical tests. Some of these tests can be draining to the average human body," Dr. Strange said.

T'Challa scolded Piper, "Why didn't you say this is why he invited you? You're in no condition for such a thing."

Piper was looking away as she shrugged, "I'm a mutant, I think I'll be fine. It's not like he's going to ask me to run or anything like that."

The two men exchanged information about what happened before and recently.

"You both worry too much," Piper said, "Let's get these tests over with and everything will be fine."

There was a sudden rumble that reverberated throughout the two-story building. Piper looked around, "Hey, uh, where's Mr. Deadpool?"

Piper got left be hide as the two men ran off to see what has happened. Dr. Strange's cape was the only thing to keep her company.

Piper asked it, "Where can I sit down. My leg pain is getting a bit unbearable."

It motioned for her to follow it. As she followed more rumblings happened.

"What do you think that is?"

The cape shrugged.

Then out of the blue, Deadpool smashed through the wall behind her. Crashing into some bookshelves. He didn't get up immediately as the books floated away on their own. Piper went to him.

"So, what's going on?"

"Saw a shiny necklace. Thought it was cool. Tried it on. Monster lose now," he groaned.

A roar reverberated through the building.

"Neat. Is it like, a big deal kind of monster, or just a onetime boss battle kind of monster?" Piper asked.

"It could be a boss battle," he said as he got up.

Crashing through the same wall, appeared a blue, nine-foot tall Lovecraftian fishman.

"Piper, get out of here," a suited up T'Challa shouted from the back of the giant fish monster.

"What if I let it eat me whole. Then I kill it from the inside," Piper suggested as Deadpool ran at the monster with his katanas.

" _What?_  No!" T'Challa shouted.

From a distance Piper heard formal sounding gibberish. Then right as Deadpool cut through the fish monster's shins. A beam of light and magic blasted the creature in the back. T'Challa made sure it fell down face first. The cape that was hovering next to where Piper was kneeling flew over to Dr. Strange. Who also emerged from the hole in the wall.

"Quickly, cut off Gargantus's head," Dr. Strange said, the cape landing gently on his shoulders.

Deadpool went in for the kill but he got caught by Gargantus. The fish monster began to laugh.

In a gargling voice he said, "You can't stop me. Humanity will rue the day it locked me in my rocky prison."

Gargantus stood back up. The slashes on his shins healing fast, and he managed to knock T'Challa off his back into Dr. Strange. With his back turned to Piper, she could see that the scorch marks on his back was almost healed. He then proceeded to tear Deadpool in half making a squeeloopsh sound. The sound made Piper cringe.

"These wet noise words are getting ridiculous," Deadpool shouted. Then Gargantus threw him aside as he followed the two heroes.

Piper thought now was a pretty good time to try the Doc Ock look. From her back she produced four long, thick tentacles. After figuring out her footing with them, she sat cross-legged in midair. Then she gathered the two halves of Deadpool. Meanwhile T'Challa and Dr. Strange continued to grapple with the monster in the previous room.

"Hey, Thanks. How long have you been a tentacle monster?" Deadpool asked.

Piper took a minute to answer as she combined the two halves of Deadpool together, "I'm hurt, Mr. Deadpool. I wouldn't call my mutation monstrous."

"Well no, of course not," Deadpool continued, "because I've seen my fair share of Tentacle Hantai and there are a few nice depictions of tentacle monsters."

"Can you start to feel your feet," Piper asked him.

"I can wiggle my toes," He replied.

In the background Gargantus roared again with Dr. Strange saying more formal gibberish.

"Are you talking about some sort of weird porn that I don't want to know about," Piper asked.

"How old are you again?" Deadpool asked.

"By our calendars, eighteen," She replied.

"Yah, it's like anime porn," he said, "You can put me down now."

Piper sat Deadpool down. After he shook out his legs and did a few squats he pulled out some more Katanas from out of nowhere. Then ran through the hole into the other room. Piper followed. Dr. Strange was flying around blasting Gargantus with magic blasts. Climbing on the monster's back again was T'Challa. With Deadpool attacking his legs, the three of them seemed evenly matched against Gargantus. However, Piper felt like the fish monster might still win if she didn't help in some way.

Upon closer inspection of Gargantus, Piper noticed that necklace Deadpool mentioned. A gold chain with a type of green gem stone in the middle of it. It's so close to the fish monster's neck that it's almost like a choker on it. Piper wondered what would happen if she managed to unclasp it. Using her four tentacles she maneuvered herself above the fight on the second floor. Then she waited for an opportunity. It didn't take long. Gargantus managed to grab T'Challa in his grasp.

"You will make a fine meal," gargled the fish monster.

While Gargantus was attempting to eat T'Challa; Dr. Strange and Deadpool was trying to save him. Piper made her move; stretching two of her four tentacles out to grab the clasps of the necklace. She managed to take off the necklace without the fish monster noticing. Right when the monster had its teeth around T'Challa's neck there was a snapping sound. Gargantus froze in its place, then its head slid off to the left and rolled on the ground a bit. Its body following suit by slumping to the floor. Then without missing a beat, Dr. Strange incased the necklace, in Piper's grasp, in a magical barrier. Then went to put it away.

Piper got down from the second floor and went to hug T'Challa, "I'm so glad you're okay.

T'Challa patted her head, "I'm glad too. Thank you for your help, but that was still dangerous. You should have left when I told you."

"I was careful," she said after pulling back from the hug.

Deadpool came over and wrapped an arm around both their shoulders. "You know, we should fight together more often. It's incidences like these that bring friends closer together."

"This was your fault," both T'Challa and Piper said.

"But we're closer together," Deadpool repeated while squeezing them in his hug.

Piper used a tentacle to slap Deadpool upside his head while T'Challa suited down. Then Deadpool was floating in the air. Meeting face to face with what Piper thought was an unnaturally calm Dr. Strange.

"You  _are not_  leaving here. Not until you've cleaned this place up or I will curse you to look like Tom Cruise," Dr. Strange threatened.

"Oh God, anything but that!" Deadpool said.

Deadpool got placed back on the ground and Dr. Strange made a broom, a dust pan, and a trash can appear. Then without saying another word, Deadpool got to work.

Dr. Strange went over to Piper and T'Challa, "So about the tests—"

Piper interrupted, "Oh, come on! Let's just do one test and then we'll try one another day. I don't want to waste getting dressed to go out if he's not going to throw his magic at me."

"How many tests were you planning on performing on her," T'Challa asked.

"Around ten," Dr. Strange answered.

"Look, I'm walking on my own internal organs here. I'm sure one test won't kill me," Piper said while sitting cross-legged in the air.

After that comment Piper saw on the two adult's faces, a look of worry. Piper thought now was a good time to walk on her actual two feet.

Dr. Strange sighed, "As a Doctor I don't particularly like the idea of using magic on an injured person. So, I'll leave it up to you. You know her the best."

Piper was surprised that T'Challa was taking a moment to think about it and in that moment, Piper got an idea. "Dr. Strange, do you have healing magic? Why don't you try that on me?"

Piper thought Dr. Strange seemed to be smiling sadly. "If magic like that existed, I would still be a neurosurgeon."

Now Piper felt stupid for saying anything.

"Piper is a capable young lady. If the magic you'll be preforming on her is going to be unhealthy for her in her current state then—"

Piper interrupted T'Challa, "I enforce my will as an adult!"

The two men out right laughed and Piper noticed Deadpool was silently laughing too.

Gritting through their laughter she said, "I'm eighteen. Technically an adult, so come on. I say let's do it."

After calming down Dr. Strange asked, "Do you need me to make a portal for you back to the X-Mansion?"

Piper threw her bandaged hands up in silent frustration.

"I have some business at The Avenger's Tower. I'll call Ororo and tell her about today," T'Challa replied.

After everyone said goodbye, Piper decided to walk on her tentacles through the portal with T'Challa. Piper felt frustrated that she wasn't going to see any cool magic placed on her. Especially after putting on jeans for this occasion. However, when they entered Avenger Tower, it was under attack. From these tiny metal octopi and she felt much better about her situation.


	10. Taking Down Doc Ock

As T'Challa suited up Piper instantly threw herself into the mess of octopus robots. Everyone was trying to catch them and/or crush them. Piper managed to grab one with her tentacle feet.

"Throw it up, Piper," She heard Clint yell.

She did and he pinned the bot to the ceiling with an arrow. There was the sound of smashing furniture in the living room. Piper went to check it out.

"Piper, be careful," T'Challa shouted at her while stabbing a robot with his claws.

"Of course," She shouted back.

In the once immaculate living room three multi-colored muscle-bound giants were romping around. Trying to smash as many octo-bots as they can. Dr. Banner was standing off to the side next to the entrance.

"Don't you want to join in," Piper asked Dr. Banner as she walked in.

"It takes forever for Hulk to calm down enough for him to go back to me. It'll be useful for me to analyze the mess than make it and besides, Ross, Jennifer, and Rick got this," Dr. Banner said.

Piper shrugged. Then picked up an octo-bot that was heading towards them. She called out, "Hey Jennifer," the giant green lady turned to her, "Here!" Then Piper threw the robot at her and Jennifer smashed it between her hands.

Piper cheered then picked up another robot and crushed it with her own tentacles.

"Yah, get it girl," the blue one cheered.

"A-Bomb. Focus," the red one said.

This went on for half an hour until finally every single found octo-bot got pinned and/or crushed.

"Why do villains always have to make it difficult for us," Wasp huffed.

"Did we get them all," Cap asked.

"I'm scanning the building now," Iron Man said.

Piper went to give Wasp a hug, "Hey, Miss van Dyne."

"Hey sweetie, when did you learn to do this," she said referring to her tentacles.

"Oh, I could always do this. I'm just making it useful now."

Black Widow interjected, "Are you staying with us this weekend?"

Piper hugged her too, "I'm going to ask T'Challa, but he's on the phone with Ms. Munroe right now."

" _Scan complete, Sir._ " Jarvis said, " _The building is clear of the robots._ "

"Thank you, Jarvis," Iron Man said. Then he picked up a deactivated octo-bot from the floor, "Let's see what Dr. Octavius was trying to get. You coming Banner?"

"Right behind you," Dr. Banner said as he followed Tony to his lab.

Piper heard someone coughing behind her. Turning around she was face to face with the big blue boy, A-Bomb.

"I'm sorry we haven't met. The name's Rick Jones," He introduced himself while flexing confidently.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Piper Thatcher," she said as she extended a tentacle for him to shake.

"What a lovely name for a lovely woman," he said before he started to kiss her tentacle.

"Um, you're basically kissing my internal organs there, buddy," Piper informed Rick.

"Oh," was all he could say.

The look on his face after hearing what she said was priceless and Piper couldn't help but laugh.

Red Hulk came over and punched A-Bomb in the shoulder to tease him, "Nice moves, Romeo."

She Hulk leaned on A-Bomb's shoulder, "Don't mind him, love. You were very brave."

"Oh, shut up," Rick said shrugging them both off.

Then Hank and Thor came in holding a bunch of cleaning supplies and Hank said, "Alright guys let's get cleaning."

It took until night fall to finish cleaning everything. The kitchen, living room, main hall way, and three other rooms on the floor.

"Uhg, I'm so sore," Piper complained as she fell onto a love seat.

"Have you taken your medicine," T'Challa asked.

"I will in a sec. Thanks for asking Ms. Munroe to let me stay for the weekend," Piper said.

"You're welcome. You going to bed?" He asked.

"Yah," she said.

"Can I have a hug good night," T'Challa asked.

Without a word Piper dragged herself out of the love seat and went to give T'Challa his hug.

"Good night, Piper," T'Challa said.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite," Piper replied then she walked off to her room a floor down. As she left the room, she heard Miss van Dyne, Nat, and Jennifer cooing. About how cute that was and T'Challa agreeing that Piper was adorable.

Once Piper was in her room, she took a nice hot shower. Cleaned out her arm and leg wounds and got dressed in her pajamas. Then wrapped her arms and legs in gauze and disinfectant gel. She was about to take her pain medication when she though to herself that she should eat something. She went back upstairs to the kitchen to make a peanut butter and butter sandwich and have a glass of milk. The floor was mostly dark except for one room where all the adults were chatting in. As the adult's voices droned in the background, Piper looked over the city of New York. In the dark kitchen through the glass wall.

It was a beautiful sight, like the stars in the sky decided to illuminate this city. It's nothing like at the X-mansion where you could easily see the stars and hear nothing but silence. Kansas City, back home, doesn't shine as bright. Or maybe, Piper's forgetting what home looks like; she took another bite of her PB&B sandwich. Do I even miss home any more, Piper thought to herself as she chewed. The kitchen lights flickered on. Instead of seeing the city skyline she saw her own reflection. Squinting she turned around to see who turned on the lights. It was Rick.

"Oh, hey. Didn't mean to interrupt your brooding," Rick said.

"Yove didn't interuf any fing," Piper said through a mouthful of sandwich.

"That's good to hear. You look better," he said as he took out a jug of orange juice and started to drink it like it was a normal glass.

Piper took her medicine and drank some milk, "Thanks. Have they figured out Doc Ock's robots yet?"

"No, they're still trying to decode it," Rick replied.

Piper asked, "How long are you visiting Dr. Banner?"

"We're here for the weekend," Rick said then finished off the jug of orange juice, "Hey, you want to hang out? We ordered some pizza." He threw away the empty jug.

"Not tonight. Besides, I'm good with this," she said referring to her sandwich.

There was a moment of silence.

"So. Is T'Challa your dad or something?" Rick asked.

The question shocked Piper so much that she couldn't help but laugh. It took her a minute to answer, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, he's not my dad. I mean, like, he is more of a figure head than an actually parent. Besides I'm 18 years old, I may be short, but I'm technically unadoptable. And besides  _that,_  I'm not the only "child" the two, take care of. It's ridiculous." She took a sip of her milk.

"You know, I'm 19 and Bruce is my adopted father," Rick replied.

Piper looked up at him, "What!"

"Yah, he adopted me when I was 18. After  _this_  became my permanent body," he said gesturing to himself.

"Oh. Well. Good for you," Piper said. Then she thought to herself about how much the comic is taking liberties with the characters. "What happened to your birth parents?"

"Their still alive, if that's what you're thinking. They just… They just didn't want me anymore, after  _this_ ," he said gesturing to himself again.

There was a moment of silence.

"That sucks man," Piper said.

Rick smiled a shark toothed smile.

# # #

"I can't believe I let you convinced me to let you be here," Tony said, "T'Challa and Ororo will kill me if you get any more hurt."

"Don't go regretting it now. I needed to stretch out my legs anyways," Piper said, shivering.

The night's cold November wind blew over the city. Iron Man and Piper stood on a roof top Spider-Man said he would rendezvous at. Piper was in her night camouflage version of her X-suit. As well as a thick pair of sweat pants, a big winter coat, a lumber jack winter hat, and a pair of mittens.

"Aren't you freezing," Tony asked.

"Don't worry. I may be more susceptible to frost bite than the average person, but I'm prepared. With those little pad things that heat up when you break them," Piper said.

"The HandWarmer's?"

"If that's what they're called, yes."

In the distance Tony and Piper could see two people swinging towards them.

"Looks like he's here," Tony said.

Spider-Man landed in front of the two in his iconic red and blue spider suit. Then another shorter Spider-Man in a red and black spider suit landed beside him.

"How are you two not freezing!" Piper said.

"Specially designed suits I made with a family member," Tall Spidey said.

"Uhg, lucky," Piper sniffled.

"Piper, this is—"

"I know who Spider-Man and Spider-Boy is, Tony. We can skip the intros," She interrupted him, "It's Piper. Nice to see yah again sir and nice to meet you."

"You know, my name is Spider-Man too," Small Spidey said.

The two adults started swapping information. About Doc Ock needing strong materials and schematics to keeps something in. And the three possible places Doc Ock might be hiding.

"I know and I'll call you Spider-Man when OG isn't around. I have to differentiate you two somehow," Piper said.

"You could call me by my actual name," Small Spidey said.

"Naw, you shouldn't. I just haven't come up with a code name yet. Like you guys," Piper said then thought to herself how useless it would be since she already knows it's Miles.

"Okay. Then if you're going to call him OG, call me Remix," Remix Spidey said.

"Deal," she said extending a mitten-ed hand to shake.

As soon as their hands touched Piper could feel how warm his hands were and she brought it to her face.

"Oh, man. You're so warm. You're so lucky," Piper said.

Remix giggled while looking away from her, "Uh, yah. Lucky me."

"Okay kids," Tony interrupted, "We have a pretty good idea as to where Dr. Octavius might be—"

"—But we wanted to give you guys a chance to figure it out too," OG Spidey finished.

Tony expanded the imagery on his wrist for the two teens to easily see the pieces so they could put them together. Remix and Piper were silent for a moment as they went over the information.

"Oh, I know where he could be," Piper piped up, "He's some where between Red Hook and Sunset Park."

"What makes you so sure?" Remix asked.

"Well it's in the water, fitting Doc Ock's motif. There's a metal shop near the water that deals in durable materials that's gotten robbed a lot lately in Red Hook. Then Sunset Park has a bunch of abandoned warehouses from when it wasn't a park. Perfect for hiding things when you can't bring some stuff down into the water yet," Piper concluded.

"Huh," was all Remix Spidey could say.

"Very good, Piper," Tony said patting her head, "Oh, and by any chance are you going to let go of him."

While the two of them were analyzing the information, Piper had managed to wrap herself, almost literally, around Remix Spidey. To try and stay as warm as possible.

"But he's so warm," Piper whined. She then buried her face into his neck when another strong cold wind blew over.

Voice cracking Remix said, "I would appreciate it if you would let go."

"Okay," Piper said doing as she was asked.

"I'll pay for cab fare," Tony said.

# # #

The four of them exited the blue taxi cab. After Tony tipped the cabby, the four of them walked to the abandoned warehouses. It's fenced off and only illuminated by the surrounding lights from the city and boats. The winter wind blows even more bitterly at the coast. As they walked towards the buildings, Piper was inviting Remix over to hang out. With Rick and her on Rick's last day in New York. Before he went back to Arizona.

"Okay, Piper. We need to be quite from now on. Okay," OG Spidey whispered.

Piper gave him a thumbs up.

They went over the fence and they all, except for Tony, started checking out the five buildings. OG Spidey was the one who found the warehouse full of used materials. He then signaled Tony to go look in the water. It took almost an hour of searching but Tony managed to find Doc Ock's underwater layer. Regrettably, Piper got out of her warm baggy clothes and put on an underwater breather that Tony gave her. OG and Remix Spidey had their own underwater breathers. Tony then led them down to a dimly lit, oval building hooked to the river floor by eight tethers. Piper's impressed by how far Dr. Octavius was willing to go to stick with his theme.

Tony took them to the spot where he thought was the best place to break in. An air filtration-air ducked thing that was gently blowing out bubbles. Remix Spidey managed to get it open and the four of them swam into the building. They then entered a tight dark room that's converting the water into breathable air. Piper found the door made for maintenance entry and easily pried it open. Signaling the others to follow. After everyone was through Piper closed the door and Tony wielded it shut. He then went to the other door and unwielded the door at the handle and the water flooded out of the room onto the floor. The four of them were able to breath normally know. With chattering teeth Piper took out the hand warmers out of her pockets. Then proceeded to put them in her boots and in her gloves.

Tony was piggy-backing OG Spidey as he crawled to the ceiling and Remix Spidey made a motion to Piper to get on his back. Piper declined and used her back tentacles to hold herself to the ceiling. Remix shrugged and followed behind. The four of them snuck around avoiding robotic sentries and the human thugs. then the four of them came across Doc Ock's lab. It was full of science-y stuff. Monitors, computers, test tubes full of liquids, there was a pile of various small animals in cages to the side. Then at the center was a human sized snow globe looking containment unit holding a small amount of black goo on the bottom.

"Wake-y, Wake-y," Doc Ock said to the goo. He then tapped the glass.

The goo didn't react.

"I said wake up," Doc Ock growled. Then he pressed a button with a metal claw and electricity pulsed through the snow globe.

The goo spider webbed up to the top of the inside of the globe at Doc Ock.

"Much better," Doc Ock chuckled. He then grabbed one of the animal cages with another metal claw. It had a dog inside it, "Let's see how long this one lasts."

He took the scared animal out of its cage and placed it in a camber that looked like it's connected to the snow globe. After a minute the dog was inside the globe with the goo. The goo instantly attached itself to the dog. The dog started to convulse and wine then it started to growl. Then, covered completely in the goo, the dog started ramming itself into the glass at Doc Ock. The Doctor wasn't fazed as he was timing the interaction. Piper instantly knew who that black goo was. How did Venom get separated from Eddie was Piper first thought.

Piper went to position herself above the globe to everyone's silent protest. She readied herself for the pain. Then with as much force as she could muster slammed her tentacles onto the glass. It didn't break, but it startled Doc Ock.

"What are you doing!" He shouted.

Piper slammed herself onto the glass again. This time it cracked.

"Gar—" Doc Ock got interrupted by webbing, shot onto his mouth.

Then Tony flew into him and wrestled him to the ground.

Piper managed to break through the glass on the third slamming she then reached a hand out to Venom and said, "Come on!"

The goo covered dog looked up at her almost nervously.

"I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," Piper told Venom.

Then as soon as Venom reached out a black tendril towards Piper everything went black for her.

# # #

When Piper opened her eyes again everything was dark, but not in a way that night time is dark. It was more like she's in a bubble inside a tar pit.

"Hey, are you okay!" Piper asked Venom.

"What do you want from me," the goo asked her.

"Nothing. I'm just here to get you back to Eddie," Piper said.

"I don't know an Eddie," it said.

Piper thought to herself about how she should have thought about that contingency. Suddenly it felt like the world she was in was having an earthquake.

"Venom, please calm down for a moment. You're safe now. Dr. Octavius can't hurt you anymore," Piper said.

"After he's dead," it said.

There was more shaking.

Piper reached out a hand to touch the tar around her. It seemed to withdraw from her.

"Venom, I know you're scared and angry and you feel alone. I know you want revenge for what the Doctor has done to you, but please believe me when I say that it won't make you feel better." Piper pleaded, "It just makes thinks worst and worst."

Piper managed to grab hold of the tar and she cradled it. The shaking seemed to lessen.

"You're not alone any more. Let me and my friends help you, please. Just rest," Piper said to it.

The world seemed still.

"Why do you want to help me," the goo asked.

"Because I care, because it's the right thing to do, because you deserve help," Piper replied.

She held Venom in her hug. When she opened her eyes again her arms crossed over her chest and pinned down by webbing. She laid in the middle of the destroyed lab.

"Piper. Is it you?" Tony asked with both hand blasters raised at her.

"I blacked out there for a minute. Sorry for the trouble… Nobody's dead are they," Piper asked.

Tony lowered his hand blasters in relief, "I'm just glad your back. Dr. Octavius isn't dead, but you tore up his extra limbs and you bit the head off of one of the thugs."

After hearing that last part Piper started to gag, "I don't feel too good. I'm going to jail for that."

Tony started untying Piper from the webbing, "You're not going to jail."

"What do you mean I'm not going to jail. Are you saying we're going to cover up the murder we caused?" Piper said.

"We?" Tony questioned while helping Piper up.

"Yah, that black goo is a Symbiote named Venom," Piper said.

"But it's gone now—"

"No, it's still here. Venom's living in my body," Piper replied.

"Then we got to get it out of you," Tony said worried.

" **No**!" A voice deeper than Piper's could ever make shouted.

Tony jumped back.

Piper cleared her throat, "No, it's fine. Venom isn't a monster. He's a scared person who needs help. He's all alone. I can't ignore that."

OG and Remix Spidey came in with knocked out goons and broken robot pieces dragging behind them.

Piper waved at them, "Hi, guys. Ready to call the cops!"

Remix ran up to Piper, "Are you okay. What you did was the stupidest think I have ever seen anyone do."

"I agree that I probably should have gone about it a different way," Piper said, "How much more difficult did I make it."

"That thing that possessed you was actively trying to kill Doc Ock. I think you traumatized the poor guy," OG Spidey said while pointed up.

Piper looked up. Seeing an unconscious, evil scientist looking guy hanging from the ceiling in webbing.

"The guy you bit the head off of is over there," Remix said pointing behind her.

Turning around she saw the bloody body of a random muscle-bound guy laying on the ground. Piper managed to walk a few steps away from the group then threw up.

"Yah, that was our reaction," Remix said.

"Let's give her some space," Tony said.

In the back of her mind Venom said, "I'm sorry."

Piper thought back at Venom, "I know."


	11. Imprisonment: SHIELD Volunteer

"Will you repeat your statement for the records, Miss Thatcher." The nice interrogator lady asked.

"Yes Ma'am," Piper said.

Piper sat in a small room with a wall that has a two-way mirror. She's handcuffed to a chair and a special necklace, for mutant power suppression, was around her neck. A lawyer looking police officer sat in front of her with files laying on the table.

"I, Piper Thatcher, bit the head off of a man in a bloody frenzy. I am guilty of killing a man," she complied.

"But you didn't do it," Venom said in her mind.

"It doesn't matter," She silently told it, "I need to take responsibility either way."

The lady got up out of her seat and grabbed the files, "They'll be coming in for you shortly."

"Okay. Have a nice day Ma'am," Piper told the lady as she left.

"Why are you so nice to them. Their putting you in a cage," Venom said in her mind.

"They're only doing their job, Venom," Piper thought back, "This isn't like with Doc Ock. Though we will have to be careful of some guards and certain prisoners."

"Why," it thought.

"Because we lose our humanity when we enter a prison facility and they try to control you by any means they want. Like rape for an example," Piper thought back.

"What?" Venom thought.

"We'll worry about it when we get there," Piper thought to it.

Two big, rough looking guards, in black uniforms, walked into the interrogation room.

"Alright mutant, on your feet," one of them said.

Piper complied.

# # #

When Piper was finally transferred to the prison, that she was going to be living in for a year and a half, she was surprised. Surprised to find that she was going to the Big House; Dr. Pym's experimental prison facility. Piper couldn't help but wonder if strings got pulled or if this is where the judge thought would be best to put her. She got pulled out of the transfer truck. Then taken inside and put into a special looking room with nine other mutant villains.

"Wait!" Piper thought to herself, "If magic doesn't really work on me? Then does that mean the Pym particle mumbo-jumbo won't work either?"

Then there was a bright light and everyone around Piper started to shrink. She felt something shrink inside her, but other than that, she didn't feel any different. Blinking the after burn from her eyes from the light, Piper looked around to see that she was the same size.

"Venom, are you okay," she thought to it.

Venom replied in her mind in a squeaky voice, "I feel different. I don't like it."

An alarm suddenly went off, but she refused to move. Just so she wouldn't accidentally step on any of the other people around her. Two women in lab coats came into the room from the opposite side of where they entered. One had a tiny vacuum looking item and the other had a gun pointed at her.

"Don't move," the gun lady said.

Piper raised her shackled hands.

The other lady was quickly vacuuming up the villains from the floor before they had time to escape.

"Come with us," the gun lady said.

The lady with the vacuum went somewhere different. The lady with the gun was shoving Piper down a white hallway to what looked like a work space area full of scientist. Dr. Pym was next to a desk looking over some papers.

"Dr. Pym, this prisoner didn't shrink. What should we do with her?" the lady said.

Dr. Pym looked up, "Dr. Lang, put away your gun. She's not going to do anything."

"You better not," Dr. Lang growled quietly at Piper. Then she holstered her gun.

"Sit here Piper," Dr. Pym said offering an office chair to her.

Piper sat down. Her chains jingled as she scratched underneath her necklace.

"Are you feeling okay," Dr. Pym asked.

"No actually," Piper answered. Then she leaned in to whisper, "Venom is freaking out inside of me. Please hit me with a biggening ray or something. It's feeling overwhelmed."

"Yah, Tony told me about that," Dr. Pym said taking out a ray gun. He messed with some dials then shot Piper.

A bright light engulfed Piper and she felt Venom grow back to its normal size.

"Amazing," Dr. Pym said, "you didn't even grow an inch. Neither did your clothes. Oh god! You would've suffocated if your necklace and chains shrunk without you. I wonder why it only affected the Symbiote?"

"I don't know sir, writer's convenience? I'm just glad to not have my neck snapped off by this thing. I guess that means I don't have Pym particles in me, huh," Piper answered.

"You would think that would change with you being here for nine months," Dr. Pym speculated.

"What are we going to do now," Piper said, "I'm suppose to spend my prison time here. Where do you think the judge will send me?"

"That's up to you," a new voice echoed in the room.

Piper looked to see a bald black man wearing an eye-patch and trench coat walking over to them.

"Everyone, clear out," Fury shouted flashing his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge, "I have some private business with Dr. Pym and Miss Thatcher."

Piper was slack jawed at seeing  _the_  Fury before her. The room emptied itself out.

"Miss Thatcher. Nick Fury," Fury introduced himself while holding out a hand to shake.

Piper shook his hand. Her chains jingled.

"You could come with me, is what you could do," Fury stated, straight to the point.

"What," was all Piper could say.

"You have a lot of people who care about you, asking me to take you in," Fury said.

"Dang it, Mr. Stark," Piper sighed.

"It's not just Tony," Dr. Pym stated, "I managed to convince the judge you'd be well managed here."

"And I had Ms. Munroe, T'Challa, Dr. Xavier, the Spider-Men and a good chunk of the Avengers and X-men all riding my ass to help you out," Fury stated.

"Well… Then they shouldn't have," Piper said defiantly, "I made a mistake. Someone got killed because of me. I know it wasn't  _me_  who actually did the killing, but Venom's actions are my actions. I must take responsibility."

Dr. Pym said, "I mean, I could probably get rid of it—"

"Don't you fucking dare," Piper growled while curling up in the chair, "Venom will die. It's been through enough as it is."

Fury placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Look, we're not erasing the fact that a man has died or your punishment. It's more like you're getting permission from your warden here to work community service for me, for a year and a half."

Piper looked away. Unsure about the offer.

"Does that thing inside you have anything to say," Fury asked.

Venom oozed out of her pores. Then manifested into a giant upside-down tear drop of goo and fangs on her other shoulder. "If my actions are her actions, then I accept your offer. I don't want my friend to get raped here."

"Woah, I don't condone rape here," Dr. Pym instantly inputted.

"Does that mean it never happens here," Venom asked.

Dr. Pym was silent.

"Come on Piper. Let's get you out of these restraints," Fury stated. He unchained her hands and legs and Dr. Pym unlocked the necklace from her neck.

As Piper followed Fury to his car Piper talked to Venom in her mind. "Thanks, for calling me your friend and for healing my arms and legs."

Venom said in her mind, "Thank you too. For protecting me and caring about me."

"You're welcome, but don't worry. Soon I'll find Eddie, the actual human you belong with and you two will be the best of friends," Piper thought back.

"Okay," was all Venom said in her mind.

# # #

It's been a month since Piper's transfer to the Helicarrier. Since she's a prisoner on volunteer work, she doesn't get paid or has the right to ask for days off. She's had to get use to living a militarized life style, as well. Wake up at four in the morning. Self-exercise at five. Go to breakfast at six. Group physical training practices at seven. Lunch by noon. An hour of free time a one. Singular mental training at two. Drill practice at four. Dinner at five. An hour of free time at six, and finally bed by seven. It's a lot of hard work. Especially in the beginning when Piper was use to waking up and going to sleep when ever she wanted. Only worrying about training her powers at the mansion.

Over the month Piper got a lot of phone calls from Ms. Munroe and T'Challa. As well as from Mr. Stark, Miss van Dyne, Thor, Dr. Banner, Professor Xavier, Jean Grey. Then there's her fellow X-students; Kurt, Kitty, Sam, Kevin, Calvin, and Rouge. They all have so much to say to her it never feels like she has enough time. Mr. Rogers, Ms. Romanoff, and Mr. Barton visit Piper in person every now and again.

During all that time, Piper and Venom were getting to know each other. Since both beings live in the same body any notion of privacy was moot. Piper learned that ever since Venom has inhabited her, she's had a desire to hunt with her own hands and teeth. Venom itself has had a need to eat a lot of junk food. Together though, they have managed to curb their desires. Piper would eat raw food like fish, shell fish, and insects. Venom would try to eat fruit. However, whenever either of them broke, they both fell back on eating chocolate.

"Super-agents. Meet at conference room five," The intercom said, repeating itself three times.

Piper speed walked to the conference room on floor five from the community lounge on floor two.

"You think this is it, Venom," Piper thought to the symbiote.

"I hope so. I'm excited to see something new," it thought back.

Piper made it to conference room five. Fury was already there, with Blue Streak, his blue jet suit helmet and mask was off, showing off his red hair. Quasar, his yellow and black helmet covered half his face as he was leaning back into his chair with his red and black boots on the table. And Domino was twirling her fingers in her afro while absentmindedly brushing away crumbs off her black skin-tight suit. They were all sitting at a long rectangular table.

"Three more to go. Take a seat Oobleck. Venom," Fury greeted.

"Yes, sir," Piper said. Then sat down next to Domino.

Venom manifested itself into the seat next to Piper, "Are you having a nice day, Fury?"

"It was a nice day," Fury stated.

"Awe, well don't worry, Sugar. I'm sure we'll fix what ever you're going to tell us are problem is," Domino said.

"Don't that hurt every time Venom does that," Quasar asked.

"I would never do anything to hurt Piper," Venom said with confidence.

Piper cooed and rested her head on Venom's shoulder. Venom then grabbed Piper's hand to hold. Quasar raised his hands up in the "sorry man" gesture.

Ivory and Vamp walked into the conference room at the same time.

"Salutations my peers," Ivory greeted, "Fury."

"Ivory. Vamp," Fury welcomed them as they sat down.

Ivory was wearing her long black curly hair down. She wore her classic blue tube top, sliver skinny jeans, and black leather jacket. Domino and Ivory high fived each other as Ivory made it to her seat. Vamp looked like he was ready for a classy evening with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet than for a mission. What with his white fluffy shirt and black dress pants and his platinum blond hair in a French braid.

"Hey double agent spy. Hey Ivory," Piper greeted.

"You're going to turn Vamp into a spy if you keep calling him that," Blue Streak stated.

Piper shrugged. "I'm sorry. He just looks like a double agent to me," Piper said knowingly.

"It is 'kay. She is a teen after all. I take no 'ffence," Vamp said. Piper thought he was giving her a tactical stare.

Texas Twister kicked open the door, "Merry Christmas ya cow pokes… Fury."

He looked like what would happen if Captain America and the Lone Ranger had a child together. With an impressive blond mustache.

"Glad you could finally make it, Twister. Let's begin," Fury began. He brought out a controller and a screen slid down behind him. A picture of a desert plain with a wind storm was the first image.

"We've been getting reports of children going missing across the globe. Mutant Children. There has also been a spike in Advanced Sentinel Manufacturing," Fury said. He clicked on the controller, it zoomed into the wind storm to reveal a dozen drone looking Sentinels.

Fury continued, "The X-men have already found a sister location. I believe, Oobleck is familiar with the found information."

Piper was silent for a second, "Oh! That's me. Right. Well, Changeling was the one who witnessed it. Mutants are being broken down into a kind of biological goo. Then getting injected into newly designed Sentinels. Utilizing the dead mutant's own powers to capture more mutants."

Fury nodded, "We have found out that Leader is working as a middle man. In a base about 173 klicks, East-Southeast of Tuba City, Arizona. Being given blue-print designs and money to give to the various sister locations. Then sending back coded reports and mutant samples." A picture of a small green man with an abnormally large head covered the screen. Then a somewhat blurry picture of a facility that looked like it's made out of the rocky terrain got shown.

"Your job is to apprehend Leader and shut down his workshop," Fury stated.

Quasar raised his hand, "Are we working with anyone on this mission?"

"You'll be working with some local Arizona-ians. They call themselves the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.," Fury answered. Then he clicked the controller and a group photo of the Red Hulk, She Hulk, and A-Bomb appeared.

Piper fist pumped. "Yes!" She cheered.

# # #

A helicopter was slowly landing as the agents of S.M.A.S.H. waited next to their plane Valkyrie at the rendezvous point.

Red squinted up at the helicopter, "Is someone waving at us?"

"That must be Piper," A-Bomb said excitedly.

She Hulk punched him in the shoulder, "Excited to see your girlfriend, again?"

"Please don't," A-Bomb pleaded, "She's not interested."

"Uh-oh," Red said.

"What," they both said looking up at the same time.

Then a huge puff of dust exploded right were A-Bomb was standing. As the dirt and dust settled Red Hulk and She Hulk saw A-Bomb on his back with a very excited Piper on his chest.

"Rick! I so happy to see you. I didn't get to say good bye when you left, when I got detained. I have so much to tell you… Are you okay? Did I come in too hard?" Piper said.

"What? Pff, no," He said as his back popped while sitting up, "Quick question though. Totally unrelated, but where you always this strong?"

Piper helped him up to his feet. "Well, my base weight lifting is fifty tons, but I've been practicing and I've managed to hit fifty-five tons. Do you like my new look?"

Piper showed off her black S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform with the logo on the belt buckle.

"Yah. It looks good on you," Rick said.

"Thanks! It's also specially designed just like my X-suit. I can't wait to get it back," Piper said.

Quasar landed next to Piper, "What is the matter with you!"

"Quasar, A-Bomb. A-Bomb, Quasar," Piper introduced them while ignoring Quasar.

"You could've gotten hurt," Quasar continued, "Then where would we be on are mission."

"Relax, I got Ivory's permission," Piper shouted as the helicopter got lower, "Rick! There's someone else I'd like you to meet too."

"Oh yah," he shouted.

"This is my friend, Venom," Piper shouted, gesturing to thin air, "Oh come on Venom. Don't be shy." She patted her chest.

Piper was rippling wildly from the air waves the helicopter was producing. Finally, the Helicopter touched down and shut down. Everyone got off of the helicopter and introductions ensued.

Venom materialized outside of Piper, like it was her oily shadow. "That whole ride was uncomfortable. How do you do it Piper?"

"What the fuck is that," Red Hulk said.

"I'm so sorry, Venom. I forgot about your sensitivity to loud noises," Piper said, "Rick, Venom. Venom, Rick."

Shocked, A-Bomb waved at it, "Hey."

Venom waved back.

Ivory patted Piper's head, "Oobleck told us all about you guys on the way here. She was ecstatic to see you all again."

"We noticed," She Hulk said, "Shall we get down to business?"

"Indubitably," Ivory stated.

The two teams went over their strategy plan for Leader's capture and the destruction of his base. Vamp took out the floor plans Fury managed to obtain from a planted spy in the base. Vamp, Ivory, and A-Bomb will walk through the front door. Ivory and Vamp will blend in with the researchers and chemist working under Leader. With A-Bomb behind them with his invisibility. They'll be grabbing information about the sister locations and about where the person behind it all might be. Red Hulk, Quasar, and Blue Streak will enter through the back and are in charge of causing a distraction. They'll go in fifteen minutes after the first group has entered and grab the planted spy. She Hulk, Domino, and Texas Twister are on look out on the roof and making sure they have everyone's back. Venom and Oobleck will enter the secret entrance leading to Leader's personal lab at the same time the first group. They're the only ones who are capable of entering it without attracting attention. Since it's the most heavily guarded entrance. Their job is to grab Leader.

# # #

Venom and Piper, in goop form, slithered along the wall above the two guards and electric laser system. It was a guard shift change. The guards were wearing technology that was protecting them from the laser system. After the shift change Piper and Venom slid through the cracks in the top part of the advanced locked door. The hallway that had two guards pacing up and down it. They didn't matter. Venom and Piper continued, carefully, to slink into position on the ceiling. Once they reached what looked like the midway point they sat and waited for the distraction to begin.

# # #

Domino, Texas Twister, and She Hulk managed to sneak up to various spots on the roof.

"I'm in position," She Hulk radioed her team from the highest point on the building.

Domino was watching Vamp and Ivory.

Domino looked through her favorite black and white Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum. "So am I," she radioed back. Hidden in a little nook in the front of the building, "The three of them have entered through the front door."

"I've got my ace in the hole," Texas Twister said through the radio. He had his two Freedom Arms Model 83 Premier Grades out and ready. "Red Hulk, Blue Streak, and Quasar are in position."

"Roger that," She Hulk said, "Just tell me when and where I should throw a boulder when the time come."

"Can do Sweetie," Domino replied.

Texas Twister radioed Domino, "Now, are ya sure ya don't want to use one of my barking irons?"

"No thanks, Hon', I'm perfectly fine with my wonderful magnum here," Domino said.

"You two, please don't start fighting about your guns," She Hulk said while scanning the horizon.

# # #

Vamp and Ivory blended into the background of the work force. Grabbing lab coats and protection goggles. The invisible A-Bomb diverged from the group when the three of them found a less traveled hallway. While Ivory and Vamp went to the archives to get the information, A-Bomb went to destroy communications. To prevent back up from showing up.

Vamp and Ivory managed to find room C-113, the archives. With only a few people questioning where they were going. Vamp managed to convince them to go on their way using his vampire hypnosis. Ivory at first tried to lock pick the door, but failed. Then she kicked down the door. It slammed open, revealing three researchers studying their information. Ivory quickly pulled out a hand-held notepad and pen that was in her lab coat.

"This door is not properly secured," Ivory said while writing in the notepad. "We must fix that immediately."

"Who are you," one of the research ladies asked.

"We're the inspectors, Miss?"

"Gonesly," the research lady said.

Ivory tore out a piece of paper from the notepad, "Miss Gonesly, it is dire that you take this to your superior. The safety of our hard work is on the line."

"Why don't you do it then? We're kind of in the middle of something here," Miss Gonesly said.

Vamp stepped in using his hypnosis, "It would 'elp us tremendously. We 'ave to inspect so much in one day and you would be doing us a great service."

"Oh. Okay. I guess I can help," she said.

Vamp looked to the other two, "Will you join 'er as well? You can never be too careful."

The other two nodded in agreement and the three of them left.

"Good job with the hypnosis," Ivory said.

Vamp nodded, "Thanks for planting the idea in their 'eads."

"Come on, we have ten minutes left," Ivory stated.

The two of them skimmed the information they could find using a hacking device given to them by Fury. They managed to find fifty percent of what they were looking for. The manufacturing sister locations, blue prints of new Sentinels, and where the formula for dissolve human. before things started exploding in the distance.

"They came in too soon. We haven't finished everything yet," Vamp said.

Ivory radioed A-Bomb, "A-Bomb, come in."

"I'm here! That's my fault," A-Bomb answered. There was another explosion, "I touched something I shouldn't've."

"Where are you," Ivory asked.

He answered, "Somewhere on the fifth floor."

"We'll finish up on the third floor here and insert the virus. Meet us up here," Ivory instructed.

The two rushed through the files and downloaded what they could. More explosions happened farther away than the first two.

# # #

Red Hulk, Quasar, and Blue Streak heard distant explosions in the building. Alarms went off thirty seconds later. Guards and other people who worked in the lab were scrambling.

"Can't we just have one perfectly completed mission," Quasar complained.

Red Hulk said, "Things happen kid. Let's roll with it."

Blue Streak blew past them on his skates. Within seconds everyone that was running around where knocked unconscious or tied up.

"Let's get in there before Blue Streak has all the fun," Red Hulk said. Then he jumped and landed on some transport trucks, crushing them.

Quasar sighed then flew into the fray shooting yellow light beams from his hands.

# # #

Piper and Venom felt shaking from where they perched in the hallway. The two guards that were patrolling the area started running towards the noise.

"Fifteen minutes seems to be up," Piper thought to Venom.

Venom thought back, "Let's move to a better position now that those guards are gone."

The two of them moved farther down the hallway until they were at least ten feet from the door. They were close enough to be able to hear voices from the other side. Then they couldn't hear anything after the alarms started to blare.

"This is getting painful," Venom thought, shrinking a little from the noise.

"Just hang on for a little bit longer. We just have to capture Leader," Piper thought back.

Then something from the other side of the door smashed into it, creating a convex dint.

"I don't think anyone's going through that door now," Piper thought.

"Fine, lets get in their and see what's happened," Venom thought back.

The two of them managed to slither through the cracks in the door. A huge chunk of concrete was in front of the door. In the middle of a very white and once clean lab, they saw that Ivory, Vamp, and A-Bomb were taking on Abomination.

"Leader must be mind controlling him," Piper thought.

Venom thought back, "Speaking of which, he's getting away!"

Quickly pulling themselves out of the cracks, they jumped out. Then Piper formed her physical body and started running after Leader. Noticing that he's being followed Leader used his psionic powers to throw huge rubble at them. Piper and Venom dodged broken chunks of wall and ceilings, chairs, and shelves. They were only slowed down once when Leader decided to throw an actual human being at them.

Venom and Piper managed to chase Leader down into a five way intersecting hallway. They saw Leader run right, then left, then right again. When they came out of the hallway Piper and Venom saw that Red Hulk was running down the hallway from the left. To the right Leader was shimmying his way over a small ledge down a hallway that had lost its floor. Next to two rubble blocked hallways. Without thinking Piper ran at Leader and tackled him down into the rubble below.

"Ow, that hurt," Piper said as she laid on her back breathing hard.

Leader was lying unconscious beside Piper. Venom went to work restraining Leader's limbs.

"Hey, need a hand," Red Hulk shouted from the floor above them.

Piper slowly stood up and then jumped into Red Hulk's out reached hand, dragging Leader behind her.

"Good Job, Kid," Red Hulk said.

After taking a couple of breaths Piper said, "Not now. Abomination. That way. Come on."

Piper led Red Hulk to where A-Bomb, Ivory, and Vamp were fighting Abomination. When they got there, it looked like it was just A-Bomb and Ivory fighting Abomination with Vamp knocked out somewhere. Abomination looked in their direction and saw that Piper has Leader. Abomination started coming at Piper but then he got blind sighted by a punch from A-Bomb.

"Get out of here kid. We'll take care of him," Red Hulk said before he ran into the fray.

Piper ran in the other direction like she was told and didn't stop running until she saw the gray winter sky of Arizona. Exhausted Piper laid down on the black top on her back while Venom still held on to the unconscious Leader.

She Hulk landed a few feet from Piper, "Let me put these on him," She Hulk said bringing out a metal wire hat and handcuffs from a pouch on her belt.

Piper gave her a wordless thumbs up and Venom handed him over. She Hulk proceeded to put the wire hat and handcuffs on Leader.

"Where are the others?" She Hulk asked.

"Fighting. Abomination," Piper breathed.

"Oh God! I need to get in there," She Hulk said half throwing Leader back to Venom and turning to run inside.

Then there was an explosion and Blue Streak was standing by them. He was holding an unconscious Vamp in his arms and a disheveled Ivory was piggybacking him.

"That was close," he said.

"What about A-Bomb, Red, and Quasar," She Hulk asked.

"Give it a minute," Blue Streak said.

Then A-Bomb appeared with Quasar holding on to him. It was like they showed up out of thin air.

"I don't feel good," Quasar said. Then he threw up and almost fell to the ground if A-Bomb didn't catch him.

"Dude, you were amazing!" A-Bomb cheered.

"You're not missing any body parts, are you?" Quasar asked, "I'm only use to teleporting myself."

A-Bomb quickly handed Quasar over to She Hulk and started checking himself out.

"I'm missing my left middle toe," A-Bomb replied.

"Damn it," was all Quasar could say.

"That's better than a whole leg," Piper said from the ground.

Then the group got joined by Domino and Texas Twister.

"What was that," Texas Twister asked, "I thought we're only destroying tha computers. Not the whole stack of cards."

"It was a lovely explosion, though," Domino said, "with a lot of red fire."

She Hulk sighed, "I better go get him out of the rubble."

"No need, fearless leader," Red Hulk said as he stumbled down the rocky building.

She Hulk and A-Bomb met the old military dog half way and gave him a welcoming hug.

"Marvelous job my associates," Ivory said, "Domino, did you call S.H.E.I.L.D.?"

"Yep. They'll be here any minute," Domino replied.

"Well team, it didn't go perfectly as planned, but we got our man and we got a lot of information, and we even got the base destroyed. I say this is a victory."


	12. Imprisonment: Space

The Milano silently sped through space as its being chased down by a dozen pirate ships, the Starjammers.

"Is the package secured," Peter Quill, the space ranger, asked over his ship speakers while dodging beam rays.

"No, it's moving around a lot, actually," Drax the tattooed destroyer stated.

"Then strap it down, The Collector is paying a lot of units for that thing," Rocket the mechanical racoon said while copiloting Peter.

" **I** am Groot," Groot the walking tree said.

"Thanks, buddy," Rocket replied.

"Let me help you," Mantis the emotional heart told Groot, "Oh!"

"What it is?" Gamora the resident badass asked.

"There are two people in here," Mantis said, "They're very distressed."

"Everybody, hold on," Peter warned, "I'm going to lose them in that asteroid field."

The Milano dodged and weaved through the asteroid field like a ballerina dodging football players. Half of the Starjammers chasing them crashed into asteroids they didn't see in time. Then when they exited the asteroid field, they shifted into FTL mode and lost their pursuers. When the Milano stopped Rocket and Peter sighed in relief.

"That was almost worth stealing that thing from those morons," Rocket stated. "What do you think it is they had?"

"I don't care 'cause we'll be eating like kings for months," Peter replied already imagining all the food he was going to eat.

The two heard shattering glass in the meeting room.

"I'll go look. Will you give the Milano a checkup?" Peter said as he stood up.

"Sure thing, Pal," then Rocket turned around in his seat and yelled, "You assholes better not have made this struggle worthless!"

Peter walked down the stairs from the cockpit into the meeting room. The reddish black yoga ball sized orb that was holding the thing that was inside it had a huge jagged hole next to the map table and was oozing a gray looking matter. Mantis was standing next to it holding a bat that Groot made for her.

"Mantis!" Peter whined.

"I'm sorry. I had to help them," Mantis said dropping the make shift bat.

"Sorry, Quill," Drax stated, patting his friend's shoulder, "We didn't see what she was doing until after she broke it."

"You think it's dead," Gamora asked while peaking at it from the other side of the map table.

Slowly the five of them watched as the gray goop solidified into a whiter human looking person with long brown hair. Then it put on clothes that were inside the orb. She did this all the while still laying face down on the floor.

Groaning Piper said, "Worst. Christmas. Ever."

Groot knelt down beside Piper and patter her head, "I  **am**  Groot."

Piper quickly looked up, "Groot!"

"Oh, you know us," Manis asked also kneeling down.

"Um… Yah. Who doesn't know The Guardians of the Galaxy? Follower of the amazing Star Lord," Piper hesitated to say as she sat up.

"I am amazing, aren't I," Peter stated as he was about to walk up to Piper and help her up.

Gamora walked around the map table and held Peter back lightly, "And how do you know of us?"

Piper stood up, "We tell stories of you guys on Earth."

"You're from Earth? Since when could Earthlings do what you did," Drax pointed out, "Can you do that, Quill?"

"No, I can't do what ever she did," Peter stated.

"Likely story," Gamora stated.

"I am from the North American side of Earth, I'm just a sub-species of human call a mutant," Piper explained, "I'll prove to you I'm from Earth, or at least from the U.S. Can I have a pen and piece of paper?"

Peter patted himself down and produced a notepad, "Groot, you got a pen?"

Groot made a pen and Peter handed both of the items to Piper. After a moment of scratching into the notepad with the pen Piper then showed Peter what she drew. It was an "s" that had a pointy top and bottom and was boxy looking.

"Oh my God, I haven't seen this since I was a kid. I've forgotten how to make this. Will you show me, please?" Peter asked.

Piper gladly did.

"Oh, she's definitely from Earth," Peter confirmed.

Rocket walked down from the cockpit, "The Milano's looking good, but we should grab gas soon… Who's that?"

Piper slowly backed away while staring at Rocket, but then stood her ground and just started staring at her feet. Mantis noticed this. With twitching antennas she then placed her hand on Piper's shoulder and instantly started screaming. Everyone jumped and Piper swatted Mantis's hand away from her.

Mantis sighed with relief, "I'm sorry, I was just curious about your strange reaction towards Rocket. You carry a lot of fear."

Piper just covered her face and black tendrils produced from her back and strung her up to the ceiling and wrapped her in a black cocoon.

"She's a Symbiote carrier," Gamora shouted in a panic.

"Quick, get the flame thrower," Rocket said to Groot. The walking tree went to get it.

Venom quickly retreated back into Piper and Piper landed on her feet, trying to calm everyone down, "Wait, wait, wait, wait! It's not going to hurt you. Venom's my friend."

Groot came back with the flame thrower in his grasp and accidentally misfired it. Everyone ducked as fire blew over their heads. Then in the middle of the chaos Mantis stood in front of Piper.

"I would not have released them if I felt their malice," Mantis shouted.

"I am  **Groot**?" Groot said.

"Yes, put it away. Please," Mantis said.

"I am Groot," Groot reluctantly agreed.

"Can I go home, please," Piper said, "Being in space isn't as fun as I would like it to be."

"What about The Collector," Rocket said.

"Wait, I was kidnapped form the Helicarrier to be sold as a pet to The Collector? How much am I worth?" Piper asked.

"About 100,000 units," Gamora stated.

"Holy shit," Piper said, "If you help me escape and give me one percent of the booty, I'll let you guys turn me in."

"Deal," Rocket said while jumping on the map table to shake Piper's hand. Piper stepped back and held her hands close to her chest.

"Rocket!" Peter said.

Rocket turned to Peter. "What!? We can spare one percent of 100,000 units and help her escape. The Collector's containment units are shitty as hell," Rocket stated.

"We should take her home, she's just a kid," Gamora stated.

"Actually, I'm eighteen," Piper stated, "just because I'm 4'7" doesn't mean I'm a kid."

"Then it is agreed. We're going to scam The Collector," Drax said.

"I'm game," Peter said.

# # #

Piper and Venom was in an easily openable large glass tube container as they were transferred onto the Collector's ship. To keep up appearances they stayed in goop form to make themselves look weak and also to hide Rocket's device they were given. As the Guardians rolled Venom and Piper in, at first, they saw nothing but a hallway with nothing more than glass separating them from the void of space. Then they entered the main room and it was stories tall, The Collector's collection looked like a sky scraper office building, but used as a museum filled to the brim with interesting items and way too many animals and people. For Piper is was amazing and horrible, but for Venom it was just horrible.

"Ah, welcome," The Collector said. He wore a red, blue, and black armor and over that he wore fur boots, gloves, and a cape. His white hair stuck out on end. In one hand he held a suit case.

"Here you go," Peter said, "One symbiote hybrid being thing." They sat down the glass container in the middle of the office like room.

The Collector got up close to the glass, "My, my, my, what beautiful creatures. One's the host, the other's a parasite, but they act as one. How quaint."

Venom and Piper shrank away from the old man.

Peter leaned casually against the glass tube, "We worked very hard to get this thing for you, so much so that we probably deserve more than the allotted price, but we feel generous so we won't charge you for any damages."

"That's good cause I wouldn't have paid for them anyway," the Collector said without looked at Peter. Then the Collector turned to Gamora, "Since you're the most sensible one you take the reward." He then handed Gamora the suit case he was holding.

"Are you implying something," Rocket growled.

"Ah, Rocket. Good to see you again. I still have your cage nice and warm for you," The Collector teased.

Rocket just growled more and didn't relax until Mantis place her hand on his shoulder.

"I know you are probably suspicious of not getting your full amount, so I will welcome you to tea while you count your units," The Collector offered.

"That's very kind of you," Gamora answered, "But we'll do that in the comfort of our ship."

"Very well," The Collector said. Then he clapped twice and three mini robots popped out of no where and took the container that Piper and Venom were in. "See you next time." Then the two parties walked away from each other.

"Welcome to your new home," The Collector told Piper and Venom, "I haven't seen a symbiote since Knull tried to take over everything."

They were escorted to an elevator and they went down.

"You can stop hiding your host. It's rude to not let her talk," The Collector said.

Piper decided to show herself, much to Venom's mental protest.

"Oh, a human! How exciting, your species are so delightfully young. Tell me, do you know what your symbiote is," He asked in what Piper thought was in a smug way.

Piper rolled her eyes, "Are you going to explain to me how Venom's species is actually called the Klyntar and how they were made to destroy Celestials, then yes. I do know what my symbiote is."

Piper felt Venom shift uncomfortably inside her as the Collector frowned. The elevator jiggled to a stop. Then the robots proceeded to push her and Venom forward down a brightly lit hallway filled with various strange alien animals; some looked familiar while others were so bizarre that she didn't have words to describe what she was seeing.

"Well, since a symbiote can live in almost any condition I really have to design the cage based on the host. Apologies that it's not completely finished," The Collector stated as they came upon a half empty white room with a bed and a toilet. After the robots dumped her in to the cage Piper made a show of her not wanting to be in there and faked trying to escape by running out, only to run face first into some really clean glass like material.

"Ow! There wasn't anything here before," Piper said genuinely confused.

The Collector hummed in a laughing way, "Yes, I upgraded my cages since that little monster was last here and made a mess of all my things. Feel free to tell my bots what you'd like your cage to look like and what you eat. I want all my little pets to be nice and comfy." Then the Collector walked away.

Venom formed outside of Piper's body as she looked around the room looking for a weak point.

"You knew?" Venom asked.

"About?" Piper question.

"About me, Piper," Venom stressed, "We may be a hivemind, but we don't share all knowledge. I never told you about Knull or about the Celestials, so what else do you know?"

Piper sighed and stopped searching the room to look Venom in its milky iris-less eyes, "Look, Venom. I know a lot about what you might or might not be. It really depends on what kind of universe this place is."

"I don't understand," Venom said.

Piper sat down on the bed, "Okay, so, in one universe, you're a non-sentient parasite who just mindlessly grabs on to any sentient life form you can hold on to. Then it feeds off that sentient being's life force until it dies and that alternant you will move on. Obviously though,  _you_  are sentient, so this is a different universe, but there are always consistencies from one universe to the next. Like how you always need a host to properly live."

"How—how do you know this stuff? I this why you know the Guardians even though you never met them?" Venom said.

Piper rubbed the back of her neck, "It's best you don't know that and it's all the more reason why I want to find the Eddie of this universe. That's the other consistency over all the universes and I don't want to break continuity." Piper then pulled out a round disc thing that Rocket gave her from her back. "Where do you think we should place this?"

"Something with a lot of electricity," Venom answered.

Piper thought for a moment then she summoned one of those floating robots. When it showed up, Piper quickly placed the devise on the robot and pressed the button she was told to press. Then huge sparks of electricity filtered from it, then the lights started to strobe, then she heard the unmistakable sound of electricity shutting down and they started to float. To keep from floating aimlessly Piper and Venom used their tendrils to hold themselves steady.

"Oh, thank god that worked," Piper cheered.

The two of them threw themselves out of their cage and proceeded to backtrack the way they came. When the two of them made it to the elevator they noticed that a large squid looking alien wearing red, blue, and black armor, was rapidly coming towards them through the elevator shaft. Venom and Piper started running away back down the hallway. They didn't know the lay out of the collection like the Collector did, anytime they thought they lost the angry Collector, he managed to cut in front of them somehow. Desperate, Piper and Venom looked for any kind of crack they could squeeze through.

"Gotcha!" The Collector said grabbing a hold of Piper's arms. Still in his squid alien form, he then started to preform a double Arm Bar wrestling move. "You! Are not! Leaving!" Then he started dragging them somewhere.

Panicked from getting caught, not knowing how to get out of the hold she was in, and the pain she was feeling in her back and arms despite the lack of gravity, Piper couldn't concentrate enough to make herself go goopy. She started kicking and screaming for help.

"Piper," Venom thought to her, "Piper, listen to me. You're not alone."

Piper stopped screaming but then she started crying as she continued to struggle.

"You've turned your form into a gelatinous form plenty of times," Venom continued to think at her, "This is no different."

Piper noticed that the Collector was bringing them closer to a dungeon looking room.

"I can't," Piper thought back, "I just can't."

"Yes, you can. You know why? Because we're doing it together," Venom thought to her.

Piper then started focusing on changing her shape. She focused so hard that Venom had to tell her to get a move on now that they were finally out of the Collector's grip. Now in goop form they sped away through the zero-gravity space building and they managed to get to the elevator shaft before the Collector could cut them off. After crawling up and out of the elevator shaft Venom and Piper found themselves on the main floor. They started propelling themselves towards the glass hallway with the Collector following behind. When they made it to the hallway, they saw that the Milano wasn't there.

"They left us!" Venom thought.

"No, they didn't. They're good people. I'll prove it," Piper thought back as she formed her solid shape. She took a deep breath and slammed into the floor of the glass hallway. They were immediately sucked into space.

# # #

Piper woke up gasping for breath in the loading bay of the Milano with Peter, Drax, Gamora and Venom hovering over her.

After taking a moment to breath Piper cheered weakly, "Told you!"

"It wasn't worth it," Venom replied as it pressed it's face to Piper's cheek.

"That was the stupidest thing I have ever seen," Drax said.

"Did you count all the money," Piper asked Gamora.

"Yah, it's good and you'll get your one percent," she answered.

Piper slowly sat up, "So where are we going now."

"We're heading to Knowhere to fill up and then get you back to Earth," Peter said.

"Oh, that's good… I need a hug," Piper said.

Gamora and Peter looked at each other then made nods towards Piper.

"Come here young one. I'll provide a hug for you," Drax said as he leaned down and picked Piper up in his hug.

As she was firmly crushed Piper replied, "My name's Piper."

"It is good to know your name, Piper. Would you like to hear stories of my dead wife and daughter?" Drax asked.

"I would love to," Piper answered, "Venom?"

"I'll listen, too," it replied.

Then while carrying her, Drax took Piper to the make shift living room of the Milano.

When the Guardians, Piper, and Venom made it to Knowhere Piper was ecstatic to see the place. It was grimy and over populated like it was a crime ridden bee hive. It smelled of gasoline, muck, and raw foods. In a way it was beautiful. Gamora gave Piper her share of the money, 1,000 units out of the 100,000 they had. Piper then asked if Groot and Drax would accompany her to go shopping.

"I see you already want to burn a hole in your pocket," Peter quipped.

"I just want to buy some Christmas presents for everyone back home," Piper answered, "I don't have an actual job so I couldn't get anyone anything, but now I can."

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Yes, and I'll go with you too," Drax said, "I know this place better than anyone."

"Does that mean you know where the new ship-body shop is?" Rocket shouted from inside the Milano.

Drax took a moment to think as he looked around, "That way," he pointed as he walked confidently off.

"Don't walk so fast, Drax! I have tiny legs," Piper called after him as she ran to catch up with his pace.

Groot waved goodbye to the rest of the Guardians and followed Drax, Piper and Venom.

Piper held onto Drax's pants loop with one hand as Drax led the way so she wouldn't get lost from trying to look at everything and at the same time held hands with Groot so he wouldn't wander off either. As the three of them were following Drax, Piper noticed a rundown looking toy store.

"Wait, Drax. I want to look in there for a minute," Piper said pulling on his pants.

"Very well," He said before she disappeared inside.

The inside of the store was dusty and dark, but it was filled to the brim with happy, playful children who were playing with the toys. An aardvark looking alien store employee walked over to her.

"May I help you," she asked.

"Can I see your collection of stuffed toys," Piper asked.

"Certainly! Mind the children," She said as she weaved between the alien children with ease.

Piper looked over three dozen stuffed toys.

"Any you like Venom," Piper thought to the Symbiote.

"No. It reminds me too much of food," Venom thought back.

Smiling, Piper picked out six stuffed toys. A pair that looked like they were water buffalo with tentacles, they looked the same except one was smaller than the other. There was one that looked the cutest with floppy ears and big eyes. One stuffed animal that kind of looked like some kind of bird. One stuffed animal was definitely a stuffed version of the Pokémon Eevee. Finally, the last stuffed toy she got was a weird looking deer, with two heads and horns protruding from its back.

"That'll be three units, Ma'am," the aardvark alien lady said.

Piper pulled out four units, "Keep the change," Piper said after she got her bags of goods.

"Oh, thank you!" The lady said as Piper left.

" **I** … am Groot?" Groot asked Piper.

Piper turned to Drax for translation.

"So… what did you get? Is what he said," Drax repeated.

"That's a secret. I'll tell you guys once we get back onto the Milano," Piper answered Groot.

"Are you done shopping then," Drax asked.

"Nope. I got," Piper started counting her fingers, "thirty-one more people to buy presents for."

# # #

Peter and Gamora were sitting on the floor next to the Milano's open loading bay as they threw a rubber ball to each other.

Mantis walked down to them from inside the Milano, "They are not back yet?"

"Nope," Peter said. He threw the ball at Gamora and she caught it.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to them," Manis said.

"I doubt it," Gamora stated, "There's no sudden racing ships in the air, or fire in the distance, or screams of running civilians. They've just decided to take four hours to shop is all." Gamora threw the ball at Peter and he caught it.

"Oh! Here they come," Mantis said as she looked out in the distance.

Piper, Groot, and Drax were all carrying bags.

"Right when I woke up from my nap," Rocket said yawning. Rocket walked out to welcome Groot. "What the hell took you so long, big guy."

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Perfect present, huh. For who?" Rocket asked.

"I am Groot," Groot said as he turned to Piper.

Piper was avoiding looking at Rocket. They walked into the Milano and sat everything down in the makeshift living room.

"Hey! Look at us when we're talking to you," Rocket said.

Piper forcefully snapped her head towards Rocket, wide eyed and holding on to her shirt, "Sorry. What did he say?"

"He said, to ask you who your perfect presents are for," Rocket said.

"Oh, well. Now's a good time as any to tell you guys," Piper replied, "I did want to wrap them first, though."

Piper dug around in the different sacks then she pulled out a pair of red fuzzy dice on a string, "These are some lucky dice for you, Rocket," Piper said handing the item to the raccoon. "You can hang it on your favorite gun or on your copilot seat or something, to give you good luck."

Rocket stared at the present in his tiny little paws, "I don't understand. I thought you were scared of me."

"Just because I'm scared of you doesn't mean I have to treat you like shit," Piper said.

Then she went back to rummaging through the things she bought and took out the Eevee and the two tentacle water buffalo toys, "This Eevee toy is for you Mantis."

"Oh, Thank you!" Mantis said as she hugged and rocked the toy.

Smiling, Piper then went over to Drax with the two tentacle water buffalos, "These stuff toys are for you to give to your wife and child. We can burn them and send the ashes to the afterlife so they can play with them."

"I would love that," Drax said, a bit teary eyed.

Then Piper took out a multi-colored flowerless plant and went to Groot, "Here Groot, this plant reminded me of you and what I think your soul looks like."

"I am Groot," He thanked.

Then Piper found two red and yellow spray cans of paint, "Here, Peter. I got these for you so you could touch up the Milano if you scratch off the paint."

"Ah Sweet, I know exactly where to use these," Peter said.

Finally, Piper pulled out a wooden box and gave it to Gamora, "This has a bunch of hair rubber bands to help keep your hair back when you are fighting your enemies and it's also a music box."

Gamora lifted the lid and the song  _For Whom the Bell Tolls_  started playing in a calm piano version of the song, "Thank you. Did you get that necklace for yourself?" Gamora said as she pointed out the simple silver chain with one blue-green jewel in the middle.

"It's not, this is Venom's necklace," Piper replied.

"You got your parasite a present?" Peter said. Piper could hear the judgment in his voice.

"I don't see why not," Piper stated.

"Then what did you get yourself," Mantis asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'm a prisoner. I'm not allowed to have anything… I think I might be pushing the rules a bit with giving Venom something, though. Speaking of which." Piper pulled out thirty units and twenty-five credits and handed them to Peter, "I won't need the rest of these."

Piper and Venom picked up all the bags and went to the sleeping quarters of the ship, "Merry Christmas everyone!"

Everyone was silent, then Rocket spoke up, "Didn't we just meet her?"

"Hey man, don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Peter replied as he went to the cockpit.

# # #

Venom, inside Piper's sleeping body, looked out of the living room window. It examined the necklace around Piper's neck that it got for Christmas by the light of the stars and held on to as it leaned against the glass to stare out into the void.

"Piper," Mantis asked from behind.

Venom turned to face Mantis.

"Oh, I mean, Venom?" Mantis corrected herself.

"What are you doing up, don't you have a need for unconsciousness," Venom asked through Piper.

"I do," Mantis answered, "But I had to use the bathroom. Would you like to talk? I sense that you are feeling troubled."

"I do not know how I feel," Venom said.

Mantis walked over to the Symbiote. "May I," she asked, holding out her hands.

Venom held hands with Mantis and her antennas started to glow a soft yellow.

"You are overwhelmed with feelings of; confusion, guilt, fear, and love," Mantis answered.

"I do feel confused, but I don't know about the others," Venom stated.

"Do you want to talk about it," Mantis asked as she let go of Piper's hands.

Venom shrugged Piper's shoulders, "Sure, I don't have anything else to do."

"Why do you feel like you are confused," Mantis asked.

Venom thought about it, "I'm confused about why I feel like I do. I'm a Symbiote. I was cut off from the hive mind, because I failed to conform. I've killed without remorse so I can keep living. I've been living like that for centuries. Now, I'm sitting in a ship, wearing my Christmas present and I haven't killed anyone in months."

"Is that bad," Mantis asked.

"… No, it's different," Venom said, "It's… Nice, I think."

"You know, I've never asked how you and Piper met," Mantis said.

Venom then told the story of how he and Piper met at the bottom of one of Earth's rivers in a mad scientist's lab.

"When she reached out to me after smashing my cage, I froze. I don't know why I did. In any other circumstance I would have instantly latched on to her and start havoc," Venom finished telling his story.

"Has no one ever reached out to you before," Mantis asked.

"I'm a Symbiote. What do you think?" Venom said.

"Do you suppose that's why you feel guilt, because someone finally reached out to you without fear and you used her to try and kill that human?" Mantis stated.

"Yah, that sounds about right," Venom said while rubbing Piper's arms, "I guess I do feel guilty about that. I thought I was over that though."

"We hang onto many things whether we know it or not," Mantis said.

"But I don't think she reached out to me without fear. I know she felt scared when I took over. She was desperately showing me her memories of how her Grandmother died in a house robbery by gangs and how she joined the opposing gang just so she could kill more of those people. She showed me the guilt she felt over that part of her life and was trying to convince me to stop," Venom rambled.

"You stopped, right," Mantis asked.

"Eventually," Venom stated.

"So, you now have a home with someone who has helped you. What's so scary about that?" Mantis stated.

"She knows so much about me, about what I was, and she wasn't to get rid of me," Venom said holding itself through Piper's unconscious body.

"I don't see why she would want to do that. She seems to like you well enough," Mantis said shocked.

"No, she doesn't want to get rid of me because she hates me, but because us being together is inconsistent with universal consistency," Venom mocked half-heartedly.

"I don't understand," Mantis said confused.

"Neither do I, but after being with Piper, I'd rather see the universe collapse in on itself than separate from her," Venom said defiantly while grabbing its necklace in one hand.

"Have you told Piper this," Mantis asked.

"… No. I don't know how. She's been looking for this Eddie ever since we met. I feel like I can't tell her I don't want to go to this stranger," Venom said defeated.

"Venom, every relationship starts with a conversation. There is no special way to tell someone how you feel," Mantis advised, "And there is no special time. If you feel the need to talk to Piper, then you should. As soon as possible."

Venom was silent for a minute, "I'll try."


	13. Imprisonment: Vamp Makes a Move

Through the cockpit window of the Milano Piper could see Earth. Seeing her home planet filled Piper with a desire to find a hotdog stand. Then eat a chilly dog with taco cheese and jalapeños.

"It feels like it's been forever since I've seen Earth," Peter stated.

"I feel the same way," Piper agreed. "I'm going to miss you Peter."

"Please save the wishy-washy junk for until we leave this place," Rocket said in a gruff tone.

Piper smiled attentively at the talking raccoon. "I'll miss you too, Rocket."

Rocket didn't look at her, but his ears reflexively lowered to the side of his head.

Drax called from the kitchen, "Piper, I've made my wife's special lasagna surprise dish for you!"

Gasping with delight Piper ran to the kitchen to eat some before they landed on Earth.

"I don't understand how she's able to eat that stuff," Peter cringed from the burnt smell in the air from the kitchen.

Rocket shrugged in response.

# # #

Nick Fury was standing in the center of the control room of the Helicarrier as the UFO alarm system was going off. This time they were ready for an attack and weren't about to get blindsided like before. As Fury was readying his men to attack. Then one of the communications people grabbed his attention.

"Sir, we're getting a signal from the UFO," she said.

"Bring it up," Fury ordered.

The control room went dark as the holo-screen came up and it was Piper with a raccoon and human man beside her. She had some strange stain on her face, like she finished eating something.

"Fury don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Piper yelled in a panic.

Fury got caught off guard, but quickly collected himself, "How do I know it's really you?"

"When I was showing off the new S.H.I.E.D. suit you gave me, by preforming a split in it. I accidentally tore the crotch down the middle. Then you promised you wouldn't tell anyone," Piper said as the first thing that came to her mind.

The raccoon, man and other unseen people in the background were laughing hysterically. Fury then gave orders to withdraw the scrambled fighter jets and hide the Helicarrier's defense systems.

"It's good to have you back Piper," Fury said before the holo-screen turned off. Then the man made a call.

# # #

The Guardian's, Piper, and Venom landed on the landing strip of the Helicarrier. Piper couldn't help but wonder how long she has been gone considering how hot and bright it was out. As Piper was carrying her bags of gifts, she's followed by her snickering friends as they walked down the Milano's ramp.

"Are you guys about done," Piper said, pouting.

Mantis was covering her mouth as she spoke, "I am truly sorry, Piper. Their mirth is contagious."

Drax laid a hand on her shoulder, "Do not be embarrassed, young one. I too have split my pants, many times."

"Remember when Drax fought that Rumbuloid on Nexus Six," Gamora said with a smile.

The team, except for Piper and Venom, started to laugh harder.

"I am Groot," Groot joked.

"Yes, that beast could take my clothes, but it couldn't take away my strength," Drax said proudly.

Finally, Piper could see Fury walking towards them as they waited next to the Milano. Piper started fishing out Fury's Christmas present as a strong wind started to blow over them. When Fury was standing at attention before the group, Piper found the stern man's present.

"I see you've managed to make some new friends after your kidnapping," Fury stated.

"I'm sure you've heard of us," Peter stated confidently, expecting some sort of praise.

"No," Fury stated, "I haven't." Then he looked to Piper.

"Um, you guys aren't known throughout the world or anything. Just in certain groups that I'm in, as like, fairytale stories," Piper said.

"I thought you said we're known here," Rocket said.

"No," Venom intervened, "I remember her specifically saying; who doesn't know about the Guardians of the Galaxy. She didn't say everyone knew of you."

"But anyway, it doesn't matter. Here Fury. I got you a Christmas present. I might be a little late though," Piper said trying to change the subject.

Fury took the plastic wrapped present. "Five months to be exact," he said.

"Oh, Piper! We were so worried," Tg'Challa said., Ms. Munroe with T'Challa in her arms, flew down before Piper and started giving her a big group hug. Piper got surprised by the very warm welcome and dropped her bags to hug back.

"Oh, Piper! We were so worried," Tg'Challa said.

"We thought we were never going to see you again," Ms. Munroe croaked.

"We came as soon as we got Fury's call," T'Challa added.

Peter Quill was sniffing and wiping his eyes.

"Are you crying," Rocket asked, teasing.

Peter stopped touching his face, "Nooooo!"

Piper was about to say something, but then she felt Ms. Munroe kissing her head and the side of her face affectionately. Shocked, Piper pushed them back.

"Woah, what the fuck," Piper said as she backed away from them.

"Why do you think she pushed them away," Drax loudly whispered to Gamora.

Gamora shrugged.

The look on T'Challa and Ms. Munroe's face was a mixture of sadness and disappointment. Looking away, Piper picked up her bags of presents.

T'Challa placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, "Ororo, we talked about this."

Ms. Munroe wiped her misty eyes, "Right. Sorry, Piper. I got a little carried away."

"I think the three of you need a place to be alone," Fury stated as he directed a close by soldier to take them to an empty conference room.

"Four. You forgot Venom," Piper reminded Fury.

"My apologies, Venom," Fury replied.

"I'm use to it," Venom replied through Piper.

As Piper, Venom, T'Challa, and Ms. Munroe followed the soldier Fury turned to the Guardians, "We should have a little talk as well."

# # #

Piper sat uncomfortably in her swivel chair in the fifth-floor conference room as the two adults sat before her. She kicked lightly at the plastic bags to create some sort of noise.

T'Challa laughed lightly to try and lighten the mood, "Where to… begin?"

"T'Challa and I have known each other for about fifteen years," Ms. Munroe started, "Out of six of those fifteen years, we have tried to conceive a child."

He wrapped an arm around Ms. Munroe's shoulders, "But then we found out that we are both, infertile," T'Challa gently added.

"Okay, so why haven't you adopted," Piper asked.

"We are," Ms. Munroe said, "It's just taking a while."

"But then you came into our lives," T'Challa added.

Piper didn't know what to say.

"We have come to think of you as a daughter," T'Challa continued, "We realized this the night you got kidnapped by those aliens."

"We know we can't officially adopt you," Ms. Munroe inputted. "And we know you have your own parents from your home dimension, but if you want, we can be your second family."

Venom suddenly spasmed inside her, making her cough, "YOUR FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION!" Venom thought to Piper.

"Not now," Piper thought back, then she was silent for a long minute as she tried to figure out what to say first.

"… I don't have parents in my home dimension. I'm an orphan. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want people to be all; awe, you poor thing. Not having any parents. And other condescending comments like that," Piper said.

Ms. Munroe and T'Challa were silent.

"Besides, don't you want an actual child who's like eleven or even a baby instead of me?"

"We can adopt other children at that age, but we also want you to be apart of our family," T'Challa stated.

"Oh, yah, well then don't you want a child who looks more like you guys," Piper finally pointed out. "I won't look like I belong at all; like you guys are just taking pity on an outsider." Piper was looking at her feet.

Ms. Munroe got out of her seat and squatted in front of Piper and placed her hands on both of her shoulders. Her long white hair tickled Piper's knees.

"Piper, I don't know what we can say to you to convince you that we want you as a daughter. We don't care what other people might think. We don't care how old you are. All we care about is what you think. Cause if you don't feel comfortable with this you don't have to do this," Ms. Munroe explained.

Then there was an explosion in the distance that rocked the Helicarrier.

"Oh, Bast!" T'Challa cursed.

Alarms were blearing as the four of them ran out of the conference room. The Helicarrier was buzzing like a bear torn beehive. The four of them started running the same way as T'Challa's suit manifested itself around him as he ran. Ms. Munroe and T'Challa separated, to go see where they're needed in the crowd of people. Piper and Venom swished around the throng of people as they went to the part of the Helicarrier that got wrecked. When Piper found the wreckage sight, she saw that it was the high security storage unit. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and a group of armed guards were fighting demon-like creatures. Flying high above the scene was Baron Mordo who looked like he was concentrating on a spell he's casting or had casted.

"Why is an Evil Sorcerer attacking us? This should be Dr. Strange's M.O.," Piper said to herself as she ran into the fray to beat up some demon minions.

"Hey! Piper, I'm so glad your back," Hawkeye greeted, then shot a demon in the head with an arrow behind Black Widow, "Bruce and Tony owe me twenty bucks each."

Piper had turned her arms into giant needles and Venom manifested into a second head. Then it started biting demon heads off while Piper pierced their bodies. "Did they think I was dead?"

"Naw, they just thought it would take you longer to get home," Hawkeye stated while stabbing a demon in the eye with an arrow.

"Will you two focus," Black Widow said as she round house kicked a demon into another demon, "Piper, leave these things to us. You're the only one in here who can reach Mordo."

Piper stabbed two demons into the floor, "What about your bullet bracelets and Clint's arrows?"

In response Hawkeye shot an arrow at Baron Mordo. In the middle of it's flight the arrow turned and shot into the metal of the Helicarrier.

"Okay I see your point," Then Piper ran toward the gap in the Helicarrier. Then as she made it to the edge Piper jumped up thirty feet into the air. Just as Piper was about to grab onto Baron Mordo, he moved to the side while still focusing on his magic. While she started to plummet to the ground Venom shot out it's tendrils to grab onto Mordo. From a distance Piper could hear what sounded like a jetpack over the sounds of the Helicarrier. Then Piper got caught by Peter Quill on his jetboots, just as Venom grabbed a hold of Mordo.

"Is that the guy who's been making all these creatures appear?" Peter asked.

"Yep! Now let's get him to stop," Piper said as she infused her own tendrils into Venom's to make its grip stronger.

Peter, still holding onto Piper, flew down towards the ground hard. Venom and Piper's tendrils pulled taunt as they dragged Baron Mordo behind them. Rag dolling in the air made Mordo stop his spell, but the demon-like creatures didn't disappear like Piper was hoping for. However, more demons didn't show up either, so that's a plus. As Baron Mordo was about to hit the ground he cast a spell by saying some complicated fancy words and Peter's jetboots stopped working.

"Oh, no," Peter said as they started to fall.

Then they violently swung backwards as Mordo was flying upwards, trying to loosen Piper and Venom's grip on himself. Peter held on tight to Piper.

"How did he do that? Rocket just fixed them," Peter said as he was knocking his feet together like there's no place like home.

Venom manifested its head in front of Peter's face, "Magic, man."

"Of course! Nothing can be easy," Peter complained.

Piper and Venom were slowly pulling themselves up to Mordo so they could crash land him into the Helicarrier. As they climbed though, Baron Mordo said some fancy sounding gibberish and blasted them with a blinding light. After blinking away the black dots in her eyesight from the blast, Piper looked up to see that Mordo was looking down at them smugly, then in confusion.

"Is everyone okay," Piper asked.

"I don't fell so gerow!" Peter meowed.

Piper looked down and saw that Peter Quill was shapeshifting into a cat. She felt Peter's arm bones cracking and folding into themselves and watched as his face shrank and scrunched up as he meowed in a panicking way. She watched as Peter's clothes fell away and his body was covered in brown fur. Then he fell, this shocked Piper out of staring, and she grabbed onto cat Peter with a back tentacle. Piper heard Mordo started saying another spell and Piper decided to swing to try and get out of the magical blast, for Peter's sake.

Venom and Piper climbed up to Baron Mordo as he used every kind of magic he could think of on Piper and Venom, but the magic didn't affect them. Finally, Mordo decided to just manifest fire onto their arms as he flew around trying to get rid of them. That worked as both Piper and Venom let go instinctually. Cat Peter was meowing loudly like he was cursing them out as they plummeted to the earth below.

Piper felt her stomach flop as she watched Baron Mordo get away. Holding tightly to cat Peter, Piper frantically looked around at where they were falling. She knew that if they landed on a building or a road, Venom and herself could survive the impact, but Peter wouldn't make it. So, she had to land in a body of water. Luckily, there was the Hudson River, a mile away from where they were falling. Venom and Piper fanned themselves out to try and make a makeshift glider suit to direct their plummet. When they were in position, Venom tried making itself into a parachute. That only slowed them down a bit as Venom kept getting torn apart from the forces. Before they hit the water, Piper inserted cat Peter into her chest cavity, and she fused her feet together into a point to break the surface tension of the water.

Then they hit the water. Piper felt her ears pop and felt her body getting pushed in from how deep into the river they fell. Quickly, Piper swam to the surface and made it to the muddy shore and coughed up cat Peter. He looked safe and dry, but very traumatized.

"Are you hurt?" Piper asked him.

Peter stood up on his furry hind legs and looked at his paws in a cat's impression of horror. Then he started meowing at Piper.

"I can't understand you Peter, but don't worry. I know a guy who can probably turn you back," Piper said.

Piper picked up Peter as he growled in annoyance. Piper then leaping and bounding towards the Sanctum Sanctorum. Out of breath Piper banged on the front door of the old, stain glass covered building. Dr. Strange opened the door. Before Piper could say a word, cat Peter started meowing at the magician.

"Piper? I heard you got kidnapped. What are you doing here?" Then Dr. Strange gave a hard look at the meowing cat in Piper's arms, "How did this man get turned into a cat?"

Breathing hard, Piper quickly said, "Baron Mordo. Helicarrier!" She pointed in the direction she came from.

"Then we have no time to lose," Dr. Strange said as he stepped out of his home and pulled out his ring sling and made a portal to the Helicarrier.

On the Helicarrier, Piper saw the rest of the Guardians, Fury, and some random S.H.I.E.L.D agents kicking these demon-like creature's asses. Piper was about to go join them, but then Dr. Strange held her back.

"These things are nothing more than a distraction. Show me where he is," Dr. Strange said.

Piper lead him back to the broken in high security storage unit, however, Ms. Munroe was now throwing lightning bolts and tornados at Baron Mordo as he continued to conjure up more creatures. Dr. Strange flew up to them and started throwing his own magic at Mordo. At the sight of Dr. Strange, Baron Mordo looked visibly scared, but he didn't run. As the three of them battled it out Piper continued to help Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"You're all wet! What happened," Hawkeye said after punching a demon creature in the face.

"And where did you get the cat," Black Widow added after she threw a demon creature into the one Hawkeye punched.

Piper formed her four back tentacles and started throwing the demon creatures through the gaping hole of the Helicarrier. "Do you guys know what might be in here? Do we have any weird magical items that Baron Mordo might want?"

Hawkeye began saying, "We don't have—"

"—We have three pieces of magical artifacts," Black Widow stated.

"Why do nobody tell me these things," Hawkeye complain while throwing a creature at Piper and she then threw it out.

"Let's go check on it," Piper said, "Dr. Strange says Mordo is trying to distract us."

"I'll go look. You stay here," Black Widow said as she ran off deeper into the high security storage unit.

As Hawkeye, Piper and Venom continued to fight the demon-like creatures, an epic sky battle was unfolding above their heads. The two wizards duked it out with Ms. Munroe backing up Dr. Strange. Piper saw that Ms. Munroe managed to hit Baron Mordo with a lightning strike directed by Dr. Strange's helpful portals. Hurt and tired Baron Mordo decided to retreat by disappearing into a ring sling portal of his own. Dr. Strange tried to catch him before he disappeared, but it was too late. With Mordo finally gone, the demon like creatures also disappeared, but cat Peter still in Piper's arms didn't change back.

"Did he get what he wanted?" Hawkeye asked out loud.

Black Widow ran in from where she left. "Those creatures tried to steal a piece of the Ancient Scrolls, but I took them down before they could disappear with it."

Dr. Strange flew down in front of Black Widow, "You have a piece of the Ancient Scrolls? That should be protected underneath the Ancient Ones!"

"Hey!" Hawkeye moved to be beside Black Widow, "I may not know much, but we work hard to protect these items. We wouldn't have it if someone didn't think we couldn't take care of it."

"Look, Strange, I understand your concern, and if it wasn't confidential, I would tell you more about why we have it. You're going to have to trust us with it," Black Widow said with a politically straight face.

"So, I'm just supposed to assume that you're not trying to create some sort of super weapon with it, like with that Cosmic Cube debacle?" Dr. Strange accused.

"I mean, yah, basically," Hawkeye answered.

Ms. Munroe flew down as the three of them argued and landed beside Piper and she rested her hands on her shoulders. "You're all wet, what happened?"

"Magic, man," Piper answered. Then cat Peter started meowing loudly again.

"Yah, I know. Hold on," Piper answered Peter as she walked up to Dr. Strange. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you mind changing him back?"

"Not now," Dr. Strange said without giving Piper a sideways glance.

Piper grabbed a hold of Dr. Strange's face with one of her tentacles, forcing him to make a fishy face. When he was face to face with Piper's iris-less eyes and sharp tooth frown, Piper growled, "Yes, right now! You're here to help, not argue."

Dr. Strange easily pushed away Piper's tentacle from his face. "Alright, fine." Then Dr. Strange said some fancy gibberish and made some quick hand motions and Peter grew back into a naked man. Peter instantly covered his dangly bits, Piper looked away and Ms. Munroe averted her eyes; everyone else was unbothered.

Hawkeye took off his shirt and gave it to Peter, "Here man, you need it more than me."

"Thanks. Magic is the worst," Peter said as he used the shirt as a kind of skirt.

From the entrance of the high security storage unit was laughter. Everyone turned to see that the rest of the Guardians had found them and were laughing at Peter's nakedness. Peter went to them to yell at them for laughing at him and to get them to stop.

"Dr. Strange, would you like to see the piece that we have and preform a protection spell on it," Black Widow said.

"That would quell my nerves a bit, but I'm still going to contact the Ancient Ones," Dr. Strange said as Black Widow led him away.

A small tornado whipped around Piper and within minutes she was dried. Piper turned to Ms. Munroe as she made the tornado disappear.

"I think we still have a conversation to finish," Ms. Munroe said.

"Let's go find, T'Challa," Piper answered as they walked away together.

# # #

Piper wrung her hands together in a nondescript hallway while people casually passed by her, T'Challa, and Ms. Munroe. They were too busy to pay them much attention. Ms. Munroe and T'Challa where holding hands as they were patiently waiting for Piper's reply.

Piper sighed, "I wouldn't hate it if you guys considered me family."

Teary eyed Ms. Munroe went in for a hug, but Piper quickly backed away.

"But I don't think I'm comfortable enough with calling you guys Mom and Dad!" Piper blurted out, "I'm just too use to calling you guys by your last and first name."

Ms. Munroe was pulled back lightly by T'Challa.

"Oh, that's fine, dear," Ms. Munroe said, "Baby steps are still steps forward."

"And you are okay with, Venom, right? Cause we're a package deal," Piper added.

"I don't really trust it," T'Challa said with Ms. Munroe nodding her head in agreement, "But as long as its not hurting you, I think we can live with it."

T'Challa then said, "Thank you for accepting us," he said, reaching out a hand.

Piper gave out her hand to hold and Ms. Munroe wrapped her hands around theirs. "Same," Piper said.

# # #

Vamp stood in the middle of a dark alleyway at two in the morning while wearing a small backpack. He comfortably read a book about sword techniques with his natural night vision. On the wind he smelled Baron Mordo walking towards him, Vamp closed the book as Mordo appeared before him, looking a little warn for wear.

"You did go'd," Vamp said.

"Do you have it," Baron Mordo stated, straight to the point.

Vamp shrugged off the backpack, unzipped the one pocket, and took out a broken head piece of a staff. The staff head looked like the many faces of suffering people.

"The Berserker Staff," Mordo said, almost drooling and reaching for the staff head.

Vamp moved the head of the Berserker Staff away from Mordo's reach. "You make a great distraction, but do you have what we agreed upon?"

Baron Mordo made a hand sized portal appear, reached into it, and pulled out a bowling ball sized and shaped, black rock. The two traded their items.

"Pleasure, doing business with you," Vamp said as he put the light Ebony Crystal into his backpack and walked away.

# # #

During that time at the Helicarrier's barracks, Piper was half asleep in her bunk as Venom probed her for answers.

"Why didn't you tell me you were from another dimension. We've known each other for almost half a year now, did saving all those aliens on are way here and living together mean nothing to you?" Venom thought to her, feeling a bit betrayed.

Piper thought back, "You know that's not true, of course it means something to me. I didn't tell you because I know too much. The less that people know that I know a lot, the less chances are of someone getting hurt."

"So what, you know everything about us in this dimension because you use to live in that other dimension?" Venom thought disbelievingly.

"Kind of. It's impossible to know everything. Cause nobody wants to read about the bathroom habits of Steve Rogers or Natalia Romanoff," Piper thought, then yawned out loud.

"You are not omnipresent? You just, know the people to an extent," Venom thought for clarification.

"Yah. General backstories, typical habits, what they can become or who they're always with. That sort of thing," Piper thought back as she started to fade into unconsciousness.

Venom thought back, "And secret identities too."

Piper yawned and thought, "Yep."

"That's a lot of knowledge," Venom thought.

Piper didn't answer as she had fallen back to sleep. Venom manifested outside of Piper's body as an upside-down tear drop head, it looked around in the dark to make sure no one was awake. Venom straightened out the necklace, it was given, on Piper's neck. Then Venom got close to Piper's ear and whispered it's love confession into her ear again. Practicing for when it finally feels like it has the courage to say it to her face.


	14. Imprisonment: Eleanor Camacho

Piper, Venom, T'Challa, and Ms. Munroe were sitting on a couch in the second-floor lounge room on the Helicarrier. Piper was telling them how her grandparents met.

"My grandma said it was love at first sight for her. Back when she saw my grandpa stand up to the police at a Civil Rights Movement rally in Washington. In my grandma's own words, she said that he looked like a stoic ebony Greek statue," Piper told Ms. Munroe and T'Challa.

"How sweet," Ms. Munroe said.

"In the pictures, grandma showed me of him, I've only ever seen the man smile twice. In his wedding photo and in his family photo at the hospital when my mother was born," Piper continued to say.

"I'm sure he would have smiled a lot around you," T'Challa said.

"That's what grandma said," Piper replied.

"How did your grandpa die," Ms. Munroe asked.

"Grandma said he died around the time my mom was ten and he got shot down by the police because he looked "suspicious". I never understood that," Piper said, "I know people can look suspicious, but grandpa was just rushing to grab some milk."

T'Challa patted her head as Ms. Munroe said, "Yah. We don't understand either."

Piper looked at the clock on the wall. It was 1:50pm, "Op, break time's over. I need to go study and memorize some files and what not. Thanks for visiting with me. It's nice telling someone other than Venom about my family stories," she said as she got up from the couch.

Venom materialized outside of Piper's body, "Um, ouch?"

"Oh, you know what I mean," Piper said, rolling her eyes.

"Next time we visit I'll tell you about that time I stole a whole cart full of Yubari in Cairo," Ms. Munroe said as she and T'Challa got up to leave.

"Awesome," Piper said as they left the lounge, "I'm sure Fury will give you permission to visit again."

They waved goodbye as they walked away from each other. "And I'll tell you stories about the trouble me and Shuri use to get into," T'Challa shouted.

"Cool," Piper yelled back before turning a corner.

Piper was making her way to the library on the third floor when she saw that Deadpool was looking around furiously with his back turned to her. Knowing a plot point when she sees one, Piper decided she really didn't want to get involved in whatever Deadpool wanted. She then immediately turned around and started walking away.

"PIPER!" Deadpool shouted.

She sighed and stopped in her tracks. Then Deadpool slid in front of her.

"Well, you tried," Venom said in her mind.

"Hey Deadpool. What's the rush?" Piper said.

"No time! Come on," Deadpool said as he grabbed Piper's arm and tried to drag her where he wanted her.

Piper leaned back and held her ground as Deadpool struggled to drag her. "Deadpool," Piper said, deadpanned, "I'm going nowhere without a reason. I'm a prisoner. I'm not here because this is my job. How did you even get here?"

Still struggling to move Piper, Deadpool said, "Doesn't matter. Please this is important. They have my daughter."

That got Piper to move, "They do! How? I thought she was under protection or something?"

"Yah, well, they found her," Deadpool said as he led her to the landing strip. "Carmelita called me three days ago saying she couldn't get the police to help her. That Eleanor's been missing for a week and she got a letter from Weapon X addressed to me."

"Shit man, that is way too long! All the things they could be doing to her is unthinkable," Piper said, horrified, "Did you find where they have her?"

Deadpool led her to the X-Men Blackbird Jet, "What do you think I've been doing for the past three days."

"Hold it right there, Wade," Fury said from behind Deadpool and Piper, "Where do you think you're going with my prisoner."

"Sorry Nick, I need her help. Don't worry, I'll bring her right back," Deadpool said.

Piper wrenched her wrist out of Deadpool's grasp and walked over to Fury. Then she quickly told Fury everything she knows and asked permission to go help.

"In a way, I'm preforming my civic duty if you let me help Mr. Deadpool here," Piper said.

Fury sighed and rubbed his eye, "There's going to be a lot of paper work for this… But fine. I'll approve it."

"Thank you. I'll help you with the paper work when I get back," Piper said as she ran up the ramp of the Blackbird Jet with Deadpool quickly waving her in.

Once she was inside Piper saw Logan in his Wolverine outfit sitting in one of the chairs. He was absentmindedly making his claws appear and disappear. Deadpool ran to the control panel.

"Awe, not you," Piper said out loud without thinking. Then she covered her mouth in shock.

Wolverine looked up.

Venom thought to her, "You're still bitter about that day?"

"Yes, I am," Piper thought back

"Wade, what the hell is this," Wolverine turned to Deadpool, "We're not bringing another kid to rescue your kid."

Piper sat down as Deadpool started making the jet take off.

"Listen, I may not have known Piper for long, but she's a fourth-waller. Who I think actually cares about people here. Also, her powers will be great for protecting Eleanor," Deadpool stated.

Piper saw Wolverine give Deadpool a confused look, then the man just leaned back in defeat.

Then he turned to Piper, "How have you been? We haven't talked in a while."

Piper thought, "Venom, could you talk with him? I don't think I'm mature enough to let go of my bitterness yet."

"Sure," Venom thought back. Then Venom shrouded Piper within itself.

Wolverine leaned farther back in shock at the sudden appearance of the muscular Venom.

Venom said in its deep voice, "I'm fine. Thanks."

"Good to know, bub," Wolverine said, then turned away from them.

# # #

On the Blackbird, in a soggy, half snow-covered forest of Kluane at the base of Mt. Saint Elias Deadpool told them his game plan.

"So that's the plan. Any questions?" Deadpool said as she put away his pointer stick.

Piper raised her hand, "Yah, aren't we going to try and save any other people who are stuck at Weapon X?"

"Nope," Deadpool said. He took out his guns and double checked his ammo, "I'm only here for my daughter. That's all we're here for, ya got that."

Piper felt a little uncomfortable with his blatant answer, "Okay." Piper said, then thought to herself, "Was I like this with Sam and the gang when they wanted to save everyone at the Sentinel factory?"

"I'm still not comfortable with having a kid come with us," Wolverine said.

"At your age, everyone's a kid," Piper said without thinking.

Wolverine said, "What?"

"What?" Piper repeated.

"Everyone ready?" Deadpool said as he holstered all his weapons.

"We'll get going," Piper said with her hand out, "Radio please.

Deadpool pulled out of his pocket a Deadpool radio. "We're radio number 6.96."

"Nice. I'll see you guys at the Maple syrup hide out," Piper said as she ran out of the Blackbird.

Wolverine turned to Deadpool, "Shouldn't  _you_  get your daughter. I think she'll be safer with you than with Piper."

The two men walked out of the Blackbird and started walking up towards Saint Elias where the Weapon X base is.

"Look Wolves-y, these X bastards want me, and they know you. If they saw you and Piper walking up here they'll know I'm hiding and trying to get to Eleanor. Besides, I think Piper's a friendlier face for my daughter to see than me, since I haven't seen her since she was a toddler," Deadpool explained.

# # #

Piper and Venom easily scaled the sheer cliff of the helicopter-only-back-entrance of the Weapon X base. When they made it to the top, they noticed that there was only one guard and they easily snuck around him despite it being broad daylight. Venom and Piper were half way squeezed through the cracks of the door but forgot that they had a radio on them and weren't just wearing their S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. So, the two of them abandoned the direct route and found an air vent higher up that was big enough for them to fit the radio in. Once in the air vents Piper and Venom, in goop form, gently and quietly rolled through the dust and grim of the aluminum vents. They looked for the best possible place to come out and get Eleanor from the center of the base.

Then sirens started blaring throughout the building and made Venom and Piper vibrate from the noise. Through a close by grated vent they saw that guards were running towards what Piper and Venom assumed was the front of the base. They waited until the large groups of people ran off until there were no more people running through, then they exited through the grated vent. Then, in Piper's normal form, snuck around the hallways and slowly made their way to the containment unit of the mutant test subjects. As they moved around carefully Venom and Piper thought they were in the clear, when a guard appeared before them. They tried to hide by latching onto the ceiling, but it was too late, the guard saw them and pulled her gun out.

"Halt!" She shouted and pointed her gun at them.

Piper stopped and slowly got down and kept her hands up.

The guard got up close enough that it would be almost impossible for Piper to dodge her bullets. Then the guard started reaching for her radio.

"Wait! Do you want to live?" Piper said.

The lady paused.

"Do you have something you live for?" Piper said.

The guard lady squinted her eyes at Piper and gripped her gun harder.

"Because, that gun will do nothing to me and I can kill you whenever I want," Piper said half bluffing and half serious. "And if you value your life at all, you will give me your radio and you will walk away."

The lady aimed for Piper's heart, "I'll take my chances." Then she took her shot.

Piper managed to dodge enough that the bullet hit her in the shoulder. Then before the guard lady could react, without thinking, Venom and Piper bit off the woman's head.

"Oh, god," Piper thought, "I feel sick."

"Of course you feel sick," Venom thought back, "You just got shot. Don't worry I got you. Can you keep going?"

"Yah, but shouldn't we hide the body," Piper thought.

Venom thought back, "No. Let them find her. Fear makes people unstable."

"That's scary," Piper thought.

"What's scarier is that you rolled a 2 in persuasion but managed to roll an 18 in combat," Venom thought back as Piper continued forward.

"What?" Piper thought.

Venom thought back, "What? I find D&D culture fascinating. I can't always lay in bed with you when you're asleep."

Hand on her left bleeding shoulder Piper followed the blueprints that she remembered Deadpool showing her. Finally, Piper managed to find the entrance of the mutant containment area. Piper took out the radio she had and radioed Deadpool and told him she made it and was about to extract Eleanor. There were some gun shots then Deadpool sounded his excitement and said how much they're having fun killing all the assholes. After Piper put away the radio, she then kicked down the specially locked metal door.

Five men who were guarding inside went for their holstered guns. Piper grabbed the closest man to her left and used him as a human wrecking ball before the two closest men to the right could draw their guns. The two farthest men in front of her pulled out their guns and started shooting at Venom and Piper. Piper picked up the three men and used them as human shields as she walked closer towards them. To counteract Piper coming after them, the two men started splitting up and tried to shoot around the human shielding. It worked for a moment as Piper got hit by another bullet, but before they could celebrate the two men got dragged down to their backs. Their feet were covered in a black goop that quickly crawled up their legs. The two men were then thrown against the floors and walls until they were unconscious. All five men were then wrapped together in Piper and Venom's grasp. Then like a kid trying to see how many suckers they can fit in their mouth, Venom and Piper bit off all their heads at once.

Piper wiped away the blood from her face and chest. Then she looked up at the six levels of mutant cages. Venom asked, "Are you okay?"

"I can walk, but let's not eat any more people. Okay," Piper said as she limped toward the cages to look through them.

Some of the cages had people who're strapped to tables. Others were sitting in a corner trying to hide in plain sight. Others banged on their plexiglass cages at Piper to let them out. Piper said sorry to them even though she knew they couldn't hear her. Then she came upon a cage on the third level of the mutant containment area and saw a little black girl. She was laying on the floor with her back against the wall in a fetal position. Her hands were covering her ears to protect her hearing from the noise and her eyes are closed. Putting the Deadpool radio on the ground Piper slithered through the cracks of the cage. Once inside Piper noticed that the alarms weren't as loud in the cage than outside.

"Eleanor?" Piper asked.

The little girl looked up and started screaming and crying. "Don't hurt me! Please! I don't want to die anymore!"

"Shhhh, hey. It's okay. I know I look scary. I'm not here to hurt you," Piper said.

Eleanor continued to cry and shout. Piper sat down and tried to look as none threatening as possible despite having blood all over her.

"I promise I'm not here to hurt you. I come here on your mother's behave. You know Carmelita Camacho," Piper said.

Eleanor stopped screaming at her mother's name, but she was still crying when she asked, "You know my mom?"

Piper nodded and said, "I'm also here with Wolverine and Deadpool."

Eleanor perked up at Deadpool's name, "Deadpool came to rescue me?"

Piper nodded again, "Right now he's beating up all the bad guys who hurt you and entrusted me to get you out of here."

Eleanor managed a quivering smile, "Good." She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Do I have your permission to come closer," Piper asked.

Eleanor thought for a moment, then looking Piper in her eyes, she nodded her head. Piper got up and went over to Eleanor to stand her up.

"Now let's get you out of here," Piper said as she held Eleanor's hand.

Eleanor pulled on Piper's hand, "Wait! What about the others? Shouldn't we help them too?"

Piper sighed sadly. "I really wish we could save everyone that Weapon X has captured," Piper started to say. "But sometimes you can't save everyone and sometimes you can save only one person." Piper then locked eyes with Eleanor, "And it's okay if that one person you save is yourself. I'm sorry, but we really have to go," Piper finished as she manifested her tentacles from her back and knocked down the cage wall entrance.

Eleanor plugged her ear with her right hand from the sudden intensity of the alarm. "But there's another kid here!"

That got Piper attention, "There is!"

Eleanor nodded.

"Do you know where they are?" Piper asked.

Eleanor nodded again.

Piper hesitated for a second then said, "Okay. Lead on."

# # #

Deadpool and Wolverine were slashing and shooting guards left and right. Deadpool was having a blast like he was in a videogame, while Wolverine was taking it as seriously as a good secretary takes their job seriously.

"How much longer until they unleash their favorite human weapons," Deadpool contemplated aloud as he shot three people in a row.

Deadpool waited for an answer but noticed that Wolverine didn't. Turning around Deadpool saw that Wolverine's pinned to the ground by Sabretooth. They fought like two tom cats fighting for territory.

"Oh, right now," Deadpool said. Then he was tackled down by Lady Deathstrike and her horribly long sharp nails. She had his arms pinned down using her thighs.

Deadpool moved his head side to side as Lady Deathstrike tried to pierce his skull. "If you want to nail me so badly," Deadpool said as he pulled out his gun arm from under her, "You just have to ask." Then he shot her in the face.

Lady Deathstrike jumped back and covered her face in pain. Then Deadpool unloaded his full clip into her. She was still standing and when she uncovered her face, she snarled furiously at him.

Deadpool groaned, "It almost feels like cheating that bad guys get healing factors."

Sabretooth went flying between the standoff. Wolverine then ran between them after Sabretooth. Deadpool looked through his pouches to find more bullets. He couldn't find any.

"Well fuck," Deadpool said has he dropped his gun and pulled out his katanas.

Lady Deathstrike threw herself at Deadpool, trying to slash him into tiny manageable pieces. Deadpool was parrying her attacks with the ease of a well-practiced videogame character.

"You know, we haven't met. Did you get here after I left, 'cause I could've sworn I've seen you on a TV show or something," Deadpool said, making conversation.

Lady Deathstrike said nothing as she managed to pin Deadpool to a wall and she was going for the neck to behead him. Then Deadpool managed to cut her hand off. While she was distracted, Deadpool picked up her hand and threw her hand at her face. He managed to hit her in the eye with her own razor nails.

"You know I'm torn between saying, "Need a hand," and "Nailed it," Deadpool said.

# # #

"She's in there," Eleanor said as they stood before a solid steel-looking room. Two consecutive claw marks consistently convexed the wall.

Piper made her back tentacles appear again and she knocked down the expensive looking locked door. Eleanor ran in first.

"Wait!" Piper said running after her. Then Piper was attacked from the left by a little girl with long black hair and brown skin. She looked like a female version of Wolverine. She was slashing her two claws at Piper and she yelled, "¡Aléjate de ella!"

"What is she saying," Venom thought to Piper.

Piper thought back, "It's Spanish." Then out loud Piper said, "Estoy aqui para ayudar."

"You know how to speak Spanish?" Venom thought.

Piper thought back, "Only enough to carry a modest conversation."

Then Eleanor stood in front of the girl, "Laura," she shouted.

Laura stopped and she motioned for Eleanor to move saying, "Movimienta Eleanor."

Eleanor shook her head and went to Piper and hugged her waist.

Laura looked to Piper then to Eleanor and back, then she retracted her claws. Eleanor then went up to Laura and grabbed her hand. Piper then started to lead the two girls out of the room when Laura paused and ran to her bed. She grabbed a horrible looking Raggedy Ann doll then went back to hold hands with Eleanor.

As the three girls were making their way out of the facility they were face to face with The Reaper. He was naked except for his black cargo pants. His albino skin seemed to glow underneath the florescent lights as his left hand transformed into a scythe.

"I can't let our greatest weapon go, kid," The Reaper said, "I'll let you keep Deadpool's little spawn, but she stays."

Laura snarled at The Reaper and she made a move toward the man, but Eleanor held her back.

Piper stood in front of the two girls, "They're children! They're people! And I'm not leaving without these girls."

Then the Reaper moved fast enough to close the five-foot distance between them and said, "Wrong answer." Then he swung his scythe hand at Piper.

Piper dodged and Venom took over; enveloping Piper within itself. Then several sharp tendrils manifested out of Venom's body and pinned the Reaper to the wall. Then Venom said, "We really don't have time for this." Then Venom detached its tendrils and left Reaper hanging to the wall and the symbiote went back inside Piper.

Piper said to the girls, "Vámonos." The three of them held hands as Piper led them to the helicopter only entrance.

As they stood at the ledge Eleanor asked, "How are we going to get down?"

"We're jumping," Piper said, then asked, "Do I have your permission to pick you up."

Eleanor nodded her head and said, "But what about your leg? Won't you get hurt even worst?"

Piper picked Eleanor up, "Don't worry about it." Then Piper turned to Laura, "¿Puedo?" Laura looked to Eleanor then raised her arms up so Piper could pick her up easier. With the girls on each hip, Piper walked backwards, then had a limping run to the edge and jumped about a quarter of a mile away from the Weapon X base. When Piper landed on her feet her whole body vibrated from the shock, intensifying the bullet wounds pain. The two girls dropped down from her hips and Piper fell on her ass.

"Venom, how is healing my wounds coming along?" Piper asked it aloud.

Venom manifested outside of her body, "I'm trying my best here. They used strange bullets and it's taking me a minute."

"Keep up the good work," then wobbling back onto her feet she took out the Deadpool radio, "Deadpool we made it out."

# # #

Deadpool stabbed Lady Deathstrike in her stomach to the ground when he heard his radio talk. He took out the radio and said, "Did you make it out?"

"Yah," Piper said through the radio.

Deadpool left the katana in Lady Deathstrike's stomach so she would stay pinned down. Then he ran over to Wolverine who was still fighting Sabretooth.

"Yo, Wolves-y! Time for phase two of the plan," Deadpool said.

Wolverine uppercutted Sabretooth, "Alright bub. Let's do this."

# # #

The sun set over Mt. Saint Elias as Piper led the two girls to the secret maple syrup hide out in Kluane's woods.

"Where are we going," Eleanor asked.

Piper answered, "To a safe house Mr. Deadpool calls his Maple Syrup Hide Out. We can't leave by air yet cause they'll shoot us down."

"Oh, how are we going to fix that," Eleanor asked.

Then as if God himself wanted to answer her question; they heard a massive explosion go off on Mt. Saint Elias. The three of them turned around to see flames lapping the sky from the mountain. The flames glowed like it was a part of the setting sun.

"We're staying at the safe house for the night then we'll take the Blackbird home," Piper said.

Laura spat into the ground and said, "Espero que todos se quemen hasta morir."

"Sí. Sí," Piper said as she continued to limp toward their destination.

When they managed to get to the safe house it was night time with only the stars as their light source. The safe house is an old fashion log house with a fire place. When Piper opened the front door and flipped on the light switch it was still dark. Piper sighed as she struggled to stay standing.

"It looks kind of nice," Eleanor said.

Laura said, "¿Estamos viviendo en este agujero de mierda?"

"Help me fine a generator, Eleanor," Piper asked.

Piper went to the back of the building where she thought where the generator would be, and the girls followed behind her. Piper staggered in the dark as she struggled to find where the generator might be.

"Found it," Eleanor said, standing next to the generator, "You passed it."

"Good job," Piper said.

Piper wobbled up to the generator and shook it lightly to make sure it had gas in it. It did. Then she repeatedly pulled the cord until the motor was running on its own. They saw a light turn on from the back of the house.

"Yay, it works," Eleanor cheered. Then she raised her hand towards Laura to high five, but Laura left her hanging as she followed Piper.

"There should be food inside," Piper said as she went back around the front.

Fighting the darkness that was creeping on the corners of her eyesight, Piper looked through the kitchen cabinets. All of them were filled to the brim with full maple syrup bottles. Then she looked through some drawers and found some beans, beef jerky, rice, and pancake mix.

"¿Qué pasa con todo el jarabe?" Laura said as she sat her Raggedy Ann doll on the kitchen table.

Eleanor wrinkled her nose at the can of beans in Piper's hand, "I don't like beans."

"Then you're missing out," Piper said as she got the uncooked beans and rice out, "Have you seen any pots or pans?"

"By the fireplace," Eleanor said, though it sounded muffled to Piper.

Piper handed the beans and rice to Laura and hobbled to the fire place in the living room. She found the utensils and a flint box.

"I saw some fire wood next to the entrance," Eleanor said, and she ran outside.

Then there was a scream and Piper and Laura sprang into action and went outside. Laura didn't hesitate and lunched herself at the shadowy figure standing in front of Eleanor.

The figure dodged out of the way and into the light of the safe house to reveal that it was Logan in his singed Wolverine costume.

"I don't feel like playing kid," Wolverine growled.

Piper got between Wolverine and Laura, "Whoa! Whoa! ¡Amigo, el es amigo!"

Piper turned to Wolverine, "Where's Deadpool?"

"Right here!" Deadpool said from right behind Wolverine.

Wolverine turned around and strapped to his back was a burnt top half of a man.

Piper started to see stars floating in her vision, "I'm so glad to see you guys." Piper managed to say before passing out.

# # #

"Jenga," Deadpool said before Wolverine turned around to see what happened.

Eleanor and Laura ran to Piper and Eleanor place her hand on Piper's forehead, "She's burning up."

Wolverine crouched down to Piper and picked her up. Laura growled at him and he growled back.

"You got a bed in this thing," Wolverine asked Deadpool.

Deadpool said, "It's a pull-out bed couch in a room next to the kitchen."

"I saw that room, follow me," Eleanor said as she pulled at Wolverine's arm to lead him.

"Careful kid, I don't want to drop her," Wolverine said.

Laura followed behind cautiously.

"Do you not know any English," Deadpool asked Laura, "And didn't I say to specifically only save Eleanor. What are we going to do with her?" He said to the air.

Wolverine laid Piper on the couch and Eleanor was in Deadpool's view.

"It was my idea sir," Eleanor said, "They used her against me, several times, as an experiment and they had to force her to kill me every time. I know the plan was only to save me, but I couldn't leave her."

"Piper wouldn't be able to leave her anyways," Wolverine said as he started to untie the rope holding Deadpool to his back, "based on what I know about her, at least."

Deadpool dropped to the floor in a bloody mess. "Ow!" Deadpool complained.

Laura giggled slightly. "Not funny," Deadpool said to her.

Wolverine turned on the bedroom light so he could look at Piper's bullet wounds better.

Eleanor walked up to the bloody, ugly halved human being on the floor, "Are you really, The Deadpool?"

"Indeed, I am," Deadpool said proudly, "But, my actual name is Wade Wilson," he said in a shyer tone.

"What a coincidence! Mom says that's my Dad's name too," Eleanor said happily, "It's so cool that my favorite hero has the same name as my deadbeat Dad."

Laura left the room to get her doll.

Wolverine said, "She's got a bullet entrance and exit wound on her right thigh, but it looks like it's already taken care of. She also has a bullet entrance in her collar bone but no exit wound. It might have rickashay-ed inside her."

Venom manifested outside of her body, "It did, but only a little. I managed to stop it before it could hit anything too sensitive. That's not what's causing her fever, though, it's the bullet. I think it's poisoning her, but I can't get it out because once it stopped moving it became prickly."

Deadpool turned himself around, "Can't you just activate her powers and make her goopy?"

"You think I didn't think of that," Venom said desperately. "Sure, I can move her body around like some sick human puppeteer, but I can't just activate her powers. I don't want to hurt her any more than she is."

"Bub, calm down," Wolverine started to say.

"No! You get upset," Venom cried, "You can't feel her slowly getting worst like I can." Then Venom threw itself onto Piper's shallow breathing chest.

Laura came back into the room with her doll and she went up to Piper and placed her doll next to Piper's head. Then Laura started petting Piper's hair. Eleanor went over to Piper and held her hand.

"Look, what-ever-your-name-is, you'll have to get it out for her. You're the only one who can help her right now. Yes, it'll hurt her getting it out, but that bullet will kill her if we leave it in her," Wolverine said. "You can keep her from bleeding internally, right?"

Venom was silent for a moment as it stared at the necklace on Piper's neck, forcing itself to breath calmly, "Okay. I'll try my best." Then Venom melted into Piper's body.

Everything was quite as the four of them waited for Venom to extract the bullet. Suddenly, Piper woke up and was clutching herself and screaming in pain. The two girls ran away from her and Wolverine moved to hold her down.

"Don't move, Piper," Wolverine tried to say soothingly, "You'll make it worst."

Piper easily flailed around as she cried, not taking notice of Wolverine holding on to her.

Eleanor and Laura stood by Deadpool, not knowing what to do.

"I wish I could make a joke out of this situation, but nothing funny comes to mind," Deadpool said.

Five minutes passed of Wolverine struggling to hold Piper still and of Piper screaming in pain. Finally, the prickly bullet was pushed out of Piper's shoulder wound. Black gooey string then sewed up the wound. Piper was still crying, but she wasn't thrashing around in pain. Piper looked around delirious as Venom manifested outside her body.

Piper locked eyes with Wolverine, "Mr. Howlett, I'm so sorry I body slammed you on the floor when I first met you. No matter how mad at you I was I shouldn't've done that." Then Piper saw Venom hovering over her, "I love you so much. You're the best friend a girl could ever have." Then before Venom could say anything Piper turned her head to the side and saw Deadpool and the girls, "I love your comics Mr. Deadpool." Then Piper passed out again.

"She didn't die, did she?" Eleanor asked.

Venom answered, "No, she just passed out."

"Good job," Wolverine complemented Venom. Then he picked up the prickly bullet off the floor and started examining it.

"Nothing feels good about this," Venom replied, "and this is not how I imagined us confessing our love to each other."

"So are we going to ignore the fact that Piper body slammed you," Deadpool said to Wolverine, "Cause I would love to hear that story."

"There's nothing to tell," Wolverine said, "I don't even remember why she did it in the first place."

Laura was looking around the room when Deadpool said, "Whenever  _do_  you remember things?"

Wolverine didn't answer as he left the room to go to the kitchen. Laura looked through a closet and found extra copies of Deadpool's costume and a blanket. Laura took out the blanket and the costume then threw the blanket on top of Piper and then threw Deadpool's costume at Deadpool.

"Laura and I are going to stay with Piper," Eleanor said as she crawled under the blanket and placed Piper's feet on her lap. Laura sat on the couch next to Eleanor and got under the blanket too.

"Alright, get plenty of sleep. We have a lot to talk about in the morning," Deadpool said as he crawled to the bathroom.


	15. Imprisonment: Church of Humanity

Piper hobbled behind Fury on a crutch with his paperwork held in her arm sling, along with her casted arm. Fury walked slower than he usually walked to make sure that Piper was following right behind him as they made their way to the fifth-floor conference room. When they walked inside, the Super Agents; Blue Streak, Quasar, Texas Twister, Vamp, Ivory, and Domino, were already sitting at the conference table. The six of them greeted Fury, Piper, and Venom as they took their places.

“As Ivory may have already told you, we have finally decoded all the files that were at Leader’s hidden Arizona base. What we have discovered isn’t pretty,” Fury said as Piper handed the man his papers.

Fury then took out the controller and a screen slid down behind him. An image of a humble looking white church appeared on the screen. “This is where all the information has been going to,” Fury said, “The Church of Humanity in Mize, Mississippi.”

“I’ve heard of that organization,” Texas Twister said, “they’re tha ones who are most open about hating mutants. Saying that mutants are tha creation of tha devils work or some bullshit, like that.”

Fury nodded, “That’s right. This is their main church. They have a church in almost every state in America.” Then fury clicked the controller and the image showed a map of the United States and each red “X” represented a Church of Humanity church. There was an “X” on Mississippi, New York, Arizona, Oregon, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas, Utah, Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia, Washington, Iowa, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Nebraska.

“That’s half of our states,” Quasar cried out, “How did this happen?”

Fury said, “The Church of Humanity has a reputation of helping people after criminal mutants destroy public property.”

“That’s not so bad,” Domino said.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep coloring all mutants as criminals after these incidences,” Texas Twister stated.

Then Fury clicked the controller and a white, blond haired, blue eyed woman in a floral dress was shown. She was shaking hands with some people who were cropped out of the photo. “This is Pontiff. She’s the leader of and founder of Church of Humanity. If we can expose her and what she is doing to make the Sentinels, we can hurt her cause and get her arrested,” Fury informed them.

“I wish we could stop it all together,” Piper said.

Vamp nodded his head in agreement, “I wish it could be that simple.”

“How are we going to get close enough to expose her,” Blue Streak asked.

“When we discovered Pontiff in the files, we planted an insider at her church,” Fury said, “He should be showing up any minute now.”

Then a blond, football player looking man, in a black suit with a white spider on the chest walked into the conference room.

Fury introduced the man, “Everybody, this is Eddie Brock.”

Piper’s crutch fell out of her grip. “You!” Piper shouted while pointing accusingly at Eddie.

Everybody turned to Piper as she limped towards the burly man.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Piper said.

Eddie Brock looked at her in confusion, “Do I know you?”

“No, but I know you and there is someone you absolutely _have_ to meet,” Piper said then she clutched her shirt with her right hand and looked down at herself, “Venom, get out here.”

Nothing happened.

“Oobleck, we are having a meeting here. You can show Eddie your alien pal later,” Fury said.

Piper ignored Fury, “Come on Venom, do be like that. Get out here.”

Venom was still silent and wasn’t coming out.

Piper, frustrated, looked up at Eddie.

“Where have you been all this time? I was looking everywhere for you,” Piper said.

“I’m an undercover agent. It’s my M.O. to be hard to find. For example, I was the spy that managed to grab the floor plans for you guys before you raided The Leader’s base,” Eddie Brock stated.

“Oobleck,” Fury raised his voice only a little bit, but Piper flinched like he slapped her, “That is enough.”

Down cast, Piper limped her way back to Fury’s side and picked up her crutch. Everyone continued talking about the plan while Piper withdrew internally.

“Venom, what’s wrong? Why didn’t you come out?” Piper thought to Venom.

Venom thought back, “I don’t like him. He’s too muscular and blond.”

“You literally just described Texas Twister,” Piper thought, “and you like him just fine.”

Venom though, “Twister is different.”

“Oh yah, how so,” Piper though.

“You don’t think I belong with him,” Venom thought back.

Piper took a minute to think about their answer.

“Venom… I’m sorry,” Piper though to the symbiote, “I’m not giving you a choice like you deserve. I’m not going to be apart of this universe for forever like everyone else here. When I die, that will be it. There’ll be no remakes, no reboots, and no alternate universes that I will be in when my story, _this_ story is over. You though, you’ll continue, no matter what and Eddie is the same way. I’m not saying you have to stay with him forever, but for your sake and as a favor to me, please, go to Eddie and work with him in this one mission.”

Venom was silent for a long time. The meeting was over by the time Venom finally answered. “Okay. I’ll do it,” Venom said.

Piper hobbled quickly up to Eddie before he walked out of the conference room.

“Eddie, my friend wants to go with you,” Piper said.

“This Venom fellow you were talking about,” Eddie asked turning around to face her.

Piper nodded.

“We could always use more help,” Eddie said, “… Where is he?”

“Venom has no gender,” Piper said, “but just give me your hand.”

Uneasy Eddie gave Piper his hand. As soon as Piper touched his hand, the black goo of the symbiote crawled onto Eddie’s skin and sank beneath it. Unnerved Eddie jumped back.

“What the fuck,” Eddie said.

Piper felt strangely empty. Then she said, “Get your freak out, out of your system now, before you go, or you two won’t work very well together.”

Eddie flinched and looked around wildly.

“I’m assuming Venom said something to you,” Piper said.

Eddie nodded.

“That feeling you’re having is completely normal,” Piper reassured Eddie, “and I promise that Venom is a little scared, too.”

Venom materialized outside of Eddie’s body, “I already miss you.”

“And that is why this is good for us,” Piper said, then added, “I already miss you too.”

Venom snuggled Piper’s face and as that was happening Piper asked, “Are you okay, now, Eddie?”

“Um, yah. We better get going,” Eddie said as he started walking away.

Piper stayed in the conference room alone for a minute. She then took a deep breath and went to Fury’s office to continue her promise to help with the paper work.

# # #

            The Super Agents and Eddie Brock were walking towards the church in Mize from their parked van. The town was a small rustic place of old buildings, with almost everything being in walking distance. They were all dressed in their Sunday best, to the complaint of Quasar.

            “Why are fancy clothes always so itchy?” Quasar complained while scratching his waist and neck.

            “Stop fidgeting,” Vamp told Quasar, “You’ll mess up your clothes.”

            “Does everyone know their roles,” Eddie asked.

            Everyone vocally confirmed and/or nodded their heads.

            “Okay, then have fun,” Eddie said as they finally entered the throng of the church goers.

            The church goers greeted Eddie warmly as they mingled among the people before the sermon started. It was like the whole town was at the church as Eddie introduced the Super Agents as his family members to a lot of people who’s first names he’s memorized.

            “How do you do that,” Venom thought to Eddie.

            Eddie didn’t even flinch as he thought back, “What do you mean?”

            “So many people like you and you seem to like them too, despite what they believe in,” Venom thought, “How do you do that?”

            “People are just people, Venom,” Eddie thought, “and a lot of their beliefs are based on fear and I don’t blame them for that. I blame those who stoke their fears.”

            Pontiff walked up to Eddie in a white floral dress and a scarf like blue tapestry on her shoulders. She had a couple of pamphlets in her hand. Venom felt Eddie’s heart rate rise slightly in anger.

            “It’s a lovely Sunday morning, isn’t it, Fred,” Pontiff said smoothly.

            “Indeed, it is Ms. Pontiff,” Eddie said, “What will be the sermon today?”

            Pontiff handed him a pamphlet, “We’ll talk about the fall of Satan and how Abdiel argued against him despite originally thinking about joining him. It’s my favorite “super-hero” story.”

            “Ah, yes. Abdiel sets a good example to us all,” Eddie said while taking the pamphlet and flipping through it.

            “I see you brought some of your family members with you, finally,” Pontiff said, “Please, introduce me to some of them.”

            Quasar was passing by as he was talking to some kids his own age, “Paul, come here,” Eddie called to him.

            Quasar jog-walked over to Eddie, “Yah, Uncle Fred?”

            “Paul, this is Ms. Pontiff my pastor. Ms. Pontiff, this is Paul my nephew,” Eddie introduced them.

            “My, aren’t you a handsome young man. How old are you?” Pontiff asked.

            “I’m nineteen ma’am,” Quasar answered.

            “Oh, you must be in college by now. How is it?” Pontiff said.

            “It’s okay, I guess,” Quasar answered, “It would be better if we didn’t have to worry about Mutant attacks all the time.”

            Pontiff gently took Quasar’s hands, “Well, Paul, you couldn’t be safer than being here. God’s wrath will fall upon the wicked and soon nobody will have to put up with the horrible mutants ever again.”

            Goosebumps prickled the back of Quasar’s neck and exposed arms and he pulled his hands back. “Great. I’m going to go that way now,” Quasar said as he went to visit more with the other teens.

            “That was so ominous,” Venom thought to Eddie.

            Pontiff waved and smiled kindly as Quasar ran away.

            The church bells rang, and everybody walked towards the part of the church with all the pews and the platform with the simple looking pulpit. Once everyone was seated the organ player started playing her music and everybody started singing from the bible. Two children, a boy and a girl, in white robes slowly walked down the isle holding brass candle lighters. The children lit all nine candles to the beat of the church song then they disappeared behind closed doors on each side of the platform holding the pulpit. Then Pontiff walked down the isle as the same child assistants reappeared and closed the doors behind her. Once Pontiff was behind the pulpit and the two children were sat down in the front, did the music stop.

            Thirty minutes into Pontiff’s preaching about the good graces of God and how the Devil is always tempting us, Domino stood up and walked out casually like she had to use the bathroom. Once she was out of the preaching room Domino made a bee line for the front door. She walked to the back of the building where Eddie said, during his previous surveillances, saw Pontiff enter and exit the church. She came upon a cellar door that was chained up and locked with a number coded pad lock. Inside, Domino could hear the church goers start singing again. Crouching down, Domino picked up the number coded pad lock and guessed 12, 9, 11. It popped open. She opened the cellar door and came upon a set of stairs that looked like they went down too deep for a normal cellar.

            Closing the cellar door behind her and with camera purse in hand, Domino walked down the stairs. It was about a minute of walking down stairs that lights suddenly turned on by themselves above Domino’s head. Then it was another minute of walking down stairs that she finally found herself in front of a steel door with a number key pad. Guessing, Domino punched in 2, 9, 1, 1 and the steel door slid opened. It revealed a walk-in-closet sized laboratory. Domino took a picture using her purse. Walking in she looked to the left and saw a table and sink that’s holding test tubes and beakers and other chemical working tools; they were freshly cleaned. Domino took a picture of it. At the far end of the wall was a corkboard with various chemical formulas and Sentinel blueprints with notes of which type of mutants work with the Sentinel type. Domino took several pictures of it. Turning around Domino saw a large refrigerator with a built-in freezer. Opening the refrigerator side first, she saw different colored chemicals and sealed test tubes labeled as XNA-10, XNA-11, XNA-12 and so forth. Domino took her pictures. Then she opened the freezer side and came face to face with frozen body parts and many of them were mostly heads. Some of the dead people looked like normal people while others where physically more obvious that they were mutants. Domino took her pictures.

            With all the pictures she thought she needed Domino quickly left the underground laboratory. She had been gone for ten minutes when she came back to the sermon and sat back down next to Vamp. When Pontiff finished her sermon, only a few people left like the Super Agents and Eddie did. Domino and Ivory discreetly switched their purses as they were exact copies. One of the people who was staying for the after-sermon breakfast noticed that Eddie and his “family” was leaving.

            “Yah, sorry. We have a lot of stuff to do together, but I’ll catch you next Sunday,” Eddie told the friendly church goer.

            Eddie speed walked to catch up with the escaping Super Agents and he walked up to Domino and whispered, “Did you find what we were looking for?”

            Domino nodded grimly.

            As they all walked quickly towards the van they drove in together, in the distance they heard what sounded like mechanical parts jumping towards them. Then a Spider Sentinel crashed into their parked van.

            “Halt. Mutant,” the Spider Sentinel said in an intimidatingly deep robotic voice.

            “That’s the Sentinel type that hurt Piper,” Venom thought to Eddie who remembered the stories Piper told it.”

            The church goers heard the commotion outside and they all gathered outside to see the Spider Sentinel baring down on the Super Agents and Eddie. Pontiff walked out in front of the crowd.

            “People of Mize,” Pontiff started her speech, “The Devil has shown himself again. We thought that the harmless snake, Fred Wilson, was apart of our Eden. Unassuming and cunning, but harmless. Now God has shown his light upon him and his friends and we see what they truly are, Mutants and mutant lovers! They dare to tread upon our sacred grounds and mock our holy ways, but they will not go without facing retribution! What say you!”

            The adult church goers cheered at Pontiff’s speech, chanting, burn in hell. The few teenagers that were there looked uncomfortable as the adults chanted and the toddlers held on to the teenagers, scared and confused. As the church goers continued to cheer Pontiff turned around and smugly faced the Super Agents and Eddie, then she made a hand signal at the Spider Sentinel and it started to attack.

            Eddie and the Super Agents scattered, but it was obvious that the Spider Sentinel was after one thing, the evidence that Domino had collected. While the Spider Sentinel was chasing down Domino it had exposed its mini-laser leg guns and was shooting at Domino. Domino was serpentining as she ran. Just as the Spider Sentinel was about to reached Domino, Quasar swooped down from the sky and flew her out of harm’s way.

            “Great timing, Sugar,” Domino said to Quasar.

            “Thanks,” Quasar said.

The Spider Sentinel was so distracted by trying to shoot down Quasar and Domino that it wasn’t ready for its guns to be shot off by Texas Twister and his two Freedom Arms Model 83 Premier Grades. Four of the Spider Sentinel’s eight guns were shot off. The Spider Sentinel turned on Texas Twister and charged him, but then tripped on an invisible wire that Ivory and Vamp had set up. Then Blue Streak came in on his rollerblades and quickly took out the other four guns on the Spider Sentinel’s legs. Eddie was about to join his team to take down the Spider Sentinel when he sensed malicious intent and dodged forward and turned around to find that Pontiff almost knocked him out with a steel bo staff.

Pontiff confidently got into a martial arts position, “You think I wasn’t going to notice a mutant entering my sanctuary?”

Venom covered Eddie’s arms and legs, preparing to support the man.

“You have one chance, Pontiff. Call off your Sentinel and come quietly and maybe you’ll be sentenced to a life in jail instead of having the death penalty,” Eddie said.

“And who’s going to sentence me?” Pontiff said as she ran then jumped at him, bringing her steel bo staff down on Eddie’s head, “The people? The people who are rightly terrified of mutants?”

Eddie blocked the steel bo staff and did a low roundhouse kick at Pontiff’s legs, making her fall on her back. Then he tried to punch her while she was down to quickly knock her out, but she rolled out of the way. Eddie, with Venom’s acquired strength, punched through the asphalt. Eddie made a mental note of that.

“Yes, because it’s not right to condemn all mutants as evil,” Eddie said while pulling his fist out of the asphalt, “Any caring human being who sees what you’ve been doing will take you down.”

Pontiff ran and made it look like she was about to jump. Eddie prepared for it but was then blind sighted by the steel bo staff hitting him straight in the jaw, making him fall to the ground.

“And any caring human being will see how much damage these mutants cause,” she said whacking him again with the bo staff, “Any caring human being will realize how dangerous these powers are,” then she whacked him again, “Any caring human being will know that the only way to make life safer is to eradicate the danger. Just like how we eradicate dangerous animals.”

            Pontiff went to whack Eddie with her steel bo staff again, but Eddie caught it, then using the strength Venom was giving him, broke it with one squeeze of his hand. Eddie got back up on his feet.

            “Mutants aren’t animals,” Eddie said as he spat out blood.

            Pontiff and Eddie started fighting in hand to hand combat as the Super Agents continued to struggle to take down the Spider Sentinel. The Spider Sentinel started shooting a metallic web fluid at the Super Agents from its butt so it could then shoot them using its giant cannon laser gun. Quasar was its main target as Quasar was swooping in, hitting the Spider Sentinel with his light beams. Finally thought, the Spider Sentinel caught Quasar and slammed him to the ground. The Spider Sentinel got out it’s laser cannon and while it was out Texas Twister and Domino was trying to shoot it down, but it was being protected by a barrier. As the cannon was warming up, Quasar was preparing to teleport himself into the barrier when there was distressed shouting from the crowd. Quasar didn’t know why the church goers were crying out until a fellow teenager that he had previously talked to ran in front of him. The teenager had her arms out and faced the warming up cannon like she was going to stop it through sheer force of will.

            “Human!” The Spider Sentinel said, “Warning, can not stop. Human! Warning, can not stop!” The laser cannon was about to fire as the Spider Sentinel tried to shut down its own gun.

            The teenage girl’s family was being held back as they cried for their daughter to come back.

            Just as the Spider Sentinel’s cannon went off, Blue Streak skated over to the teenage girl and moved her out of the way as Quasar teleported onto the other side of the barrier. A huge crater was what the laser cannon left in the asphalt. Blue Streak delivered the teenager back to the mob and went back into the fight. Vamp held out more of the invisible trip wire for Blue Streak to grab and Blue Streak used the wire to wrap the legs of the Spider Sentinel. Quasar managed to shut down the barrier and Domino got in a lucky shot to short circuit the laser cannon as Quasar flew away. Then guided by Ivory’s tactical aim, Texas Twister put the killing bullet into the Spider Sentinel. It stood motionless for a moment then topped over from its own imbalanced weight.

            The Super Agents heard someone crash into a car and saw that Pontiff was laying in the dinted hood and broken windshield of a church goer’s car. Eddie confidently walked over to Pontiff as Venom retreated into Eddie. Pontiff slowly got off the car and dropped to her knees, struggling to stand back up and keep fighting.

            “Stay down, Pontiff,” Eddie warned, “You’re not going to get away with what you have been doing.”

            Pontiff spat out blood and laughed then she looked Eddie in his eyes, “Never.” Then she whistled and an eight-foot-tall humanoid Sentinel appeared out of know where, picked up Pontiff and they flew away far too quickly for Quasar to follow. Five police cars from the next town over finally arrived at the scene. They came out of their cars ready to shoot. Eddie casually walked up to the closest cop while ignoring his pointed gun.

            “Hello officer,” Eddie said as he pulled out his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge and showed it off to the man.

            The officer put away his gun and called for the others to do the same, “They’re S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents!”

# # #

            It was a day and a half later when Venom reunited with Piper. It was 6:00pm as they relaxed in the second-floor lounge room.

            “That sounds intense,” Piper thought as she scratched at her bandaged leg, “I’m glad Pontiff couldn’t take all of the evidence with her.”

            Venom thought back, “Eddie was so cool. He could sense when an attack was coming for him from behind.”

            “I can’t wait to be able to do that myself,” Piper thought.

            Venom thought, “All humans can do that?”

            “Only with intensive training of some kind,” Piper thought back.

            “Oh…” Venom thought.

            “So, is Eddie as bad as you thought he was?” Piper thought smugly.

            “No, but I still like you better,” Venom thought.

            Piper waved good night to some passing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as she laid on the couch.

            Venom thought, “What did you do?”

            “Nothing as exciting as what you experienced,” Piper thought, “I did my share of paper work for Fury. I visited with Ms. Munroe and T’Challa. I taught Laura more English and I recently got a call from a crying Deadpool about how Eleanor still doesn’t like him as a father.”

            “He expects too much, too soon from her,” Venom thought.

            Piper nodded.

            “Piper,” Venom thought, “Will you really be gone forever one day?”

            Piper was silent for a minute, then she thought, “It’s inevitable Venom. There’s no way for either of us to stop it from happening. The author of this story will either throw me back into the real world when they are done with me or I’ll die, and my story will end there. Hell, for all I know, my “real” world could be a fiction of its own and I’m in someone’s stupid fanfiction of some kind. And between you and me, I would rather die than learn that I’m in some horny kid’s fanfiction.”

            “I’ve read fanfiction and not all of it is that bad,” Venom thought.

            Piper smiled and thought, “You’re such a nerd.”


	16. Imprisonment: Vampire's Day

            As Piper waited for Ms. Munroe and T’Challa to show up with their surprise, Piper was doing ballerina stretches on her freshly healed collar bone and leg in the second-floor lounge room. It hurt a lot, but Piper knew it was the good kind of pain.

            “Did I heal you alright? You still feel like you’re in a lot of pain,” Venom thought.

            Piper thought back, “The doctors said I’m fine and don’t need the casts any more. I just need to practice exercising these parts of my body again.”

            “Well,” Venom thought, “I know that the next time you get hurt, I’ll be able to heal you faster.”

            Piper finished her stretching and sat down on one of the two couches and thought back, “Don’t worry about it.”

            The front door to the lounge room opened and T’Challa said, “Okay Piper, close your eyes.”

            Piper did as she was asked and said, “You guys do know I can’t have anything, right? I’m already pushing my luck with Venom keep the necklace I gave it.”

            “We know,” Piper heard Ms. Munroe say, “This isn’t that kind of surprise.”

            Piper heard them sit in the other couch in front of her then they told her to open her eyes. Sitting in front of her, between T’Challa and Ms. Munroe, was a little black girl who looked at least eight years old. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue overalls. Her thick, curly black hair was tied behind her head in a pony tail and half of her face was covered by her blue horn-rimmed glasses.

            “Ta-da!” T’Challa said, “This is your new little sister. Lunella.”

            Like Lunella Lafayette, also know as Moon Girl, Piper thought to herself. Doesn’t she have parents already? Then Piper said, “Hello, I’m Piper.”

            Lunella didn’t bother to look up and she looked like she was pouting.

            “She’s adjusting,” Ms. Munroe said, “We wanted to celebrate you finally getting your casts off by introducing you two.”

            T’Challa and Ms. Munroe stood up and Lunella quickly looked between the two of them like she was nervous.

            T’Challa said as they left the lounge room, “We’ll come back at 1:55pm. You two have fun.”

            Piper waved good bye as they left then she turned back to Lunella. She was looking at her feet again and her fists were clenched. Piper thought she looked very uncomfortable. Piper leaned into the couch to stare at the celling and sighed. Letting the sound of her fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fill the room. Then Piper leaned forward again to give Lunella her full attention.

            “Have you ever met an alien?” Piper asked her.

            Lunella looked up at her curiously.

            “Would you like to meet one?” Piper asked her.

            Lunella thought for a moment, then she nodded.

            Piper said, “My friend is an alien called a Symbiote, or well, technically, it’s called a Klyntar, but I think Symbiote is easier to remember. Venom?”

            Venom manifested outside of Piper’s body as an upside-down tear drop with pointy teeth and iris-less white eyes. “Both are accurate names for my species.”

Lunella leaned back into the couch, wide eyed.

            “I think she’s scared,” Venom said.

            “Yah, I think you’re right,” Piper said, “but at least she knows you exist. You better go back inside.”

            Venom dematerialized into Piper. Lunella jumped down from the couch and walked up to Piper. She started poking and prodding and looking for evidence as to where Venom went.

            Lunella was looking into Piper’s mouth when Piper asked, “Are you satisfied yet?”

            Lunella jumped back and twiddled her fingers as she looked at her feet.

            “Well, at least you look sorry for invading my space,” Piper chuckled.

            Lunella started staring at two agents playing ping-pong.

            Piper asked, “You want to play?”

            She shook her head.

            “Can I give you a tour of the Helicarrier?” Piper asked.

            Lunella was still staring at the ping-pong players when she nodded her head.

            “Alright then, hold my hand and we can get going,” Piper said.

            The two sisters walked out of the lounge room while holding hands. Piper took Lunella to the first place she could think of that she had access to, the command center of the Helicarrier. Lunella’s eyes lit up at the sight of all the computers and holo-screens. Piper allowed Lunella to drag her around the command center so she could get a better look around the area.

            “Hey, Piper,” Eddie Brock shouted in greeting.

            Piper turned around to see the man in his black and white spider suit with a folder in one hand. She waved at him as Eddie walked over.

            “Did you have an assignment today?” Eddie asked when they were in front of each other.

            “No, I’m just giving her a tour,” Piper said, referencing the maybe eight-year-old girl she was holding hands with.

            Eddie looked down at Lunella, “Your… daughter?”

            “Sister,” Piper said.

            “Oh! Well, neat,” Eddie bent down to be eye level with Lunella, “Nice to meet you, Miss.”

            Lunella gave Eddie a side ways glance then started walking away, pulling Piper along.

            “Don’t take it personally,” Piper said as she was being dragged away, “she’s adjusting.”

            “I haven’t,” Eddie said as he got up and walked away.

            Piper then took Lunella to the third floor of the Helicarrier to check out the library. Piper looked at the clock over the librarian’s desk next to the entrance. It was 1:35pm.

            “We’ll look around here for ten minutes then we have to go back to the lounge room,” Piper whispered to Lunella.

            They stopped holding hands, but Piper followed Lunella closely.

            Suddenly the Helicarrier started shaking then everything not bolted down flew up in the air as the Helicarrier started falling to the earth. Lunella was screaming as she flailed in the air. Using her back tentacles, Piper propelled herself towards Lunella then Venom reached out it’s tendrils and grabbed Lunella and reeled her into Piper’s grasp. The two of them formed a bubbled around Lunella and the Helicarrier hit the ground. The sound of metal breaking, and distant screams was heard all round. Then it was silent.

            Lunella was crying as Piper and Venom slowly solidified into Piper’s normal form. Piper held onto Lunella as she cried into her shoulder. Looking around, the lights were flickering from below as the bookshelves hung to the new ceiling. Books and files covered almost every surface. Piper smelled an electric fire burning somewhere. Lunella seemed like she was done crying so Piper gently pushed her back so they could look into each other’s eyes.

            “Are you hurt anywhere?” Piper asked.

            Lunella shook her head.

            “Just got spooked?” Piper asked.

            Her lower lip quivered, and more tears fell from her eyes as she nodded her head.

            Piper wiped away her tears, “Well, that’s good,” Piper turned around and said, “Hop on. It’ll be quicker to get out of here if you get on my back.”

            Lunella piggybacked Piper and Piper started jogging and jumping through the mess. She only paused occasionally, to help fellow agents who’re pinned down by debris. They were jogging down a dark corridor with the only light source being a red flashing warning light. Piper stopped jogging, thinking she’s heard something. Piper looked through the dark carefully.

            “This feels like a horror trope set up,” Venom thought to Piper.

            “I think so too,” Piper thought back.

            Piper squinted through the fleeting red light. In the distance, Piper saw a figure squatting. Then she looked harder and it appeared it was crawling towards them.

            “Venom be ready,” Piper thought to the symbiote.

            Lunella kicked Piper’s thighs like a horse, telling her to move. Venom’s tendrils branched out of Piper’s body, startling Lunella and she tumbled off Piper’s back.

            Piper turned around quickly, “Are you okay?”

            Then the figure in the distance started bounding at them. It hissed and growled as the sound of sharp claws scrapped against metal. Once it was close enough, it leaped for Piper’s throat, but it was pinned down by Venom’s tendrils against the wall. Lunella clung to Piper and buried her face into Piper’s hip. Piper picked up Lunella then she got a good look at the thing in front of her, it was a lesser Vampire. Bald, pointed ears, large protruding fangs and claw like fingers, wearing nothing more than ripped pants and a leather string necklace with a single jewel on it.

            “Great,” Piper thought to Venom, “We got sneak attacked by vampires. In broad daylight, no less.”

            “This wall leads to outside,” Venom thought.

            “Hold on to it,” Piper thought back.

            Piper punched a hole through the metal wall and sunlight streamed through. Then she ripped it open using her free hand and a foot. Then still holding on to the lesser Vampire, Venom exposed it to the sunlight. Nothing happened.

            “I’m so confused right now,” Piper said aloud, “You’re suppose to turn to dust right now.”

            The lesser Vampire laughed and said, “Or so you wish.”

            Then as the Vampire was laughing Lunella reached out and grabbed its necklace and broke the leather string. The Vampire wasn’t laughing anymore as it turned to dust in the sunlight. Piper looked to the dust on Venom’s tendrils to the necklace in Lunella’s hands and back again.

            “Good eye,” Piper said to her sister.

            She smiled proudly then she started studying the single black jewel on the leather string. Piper jumped out of the Helicarrier onto one of its turbines. Looking around she saw that the Helicarrier landed in the middle of Central Park. There was screaming in the distance. Piper jumped to the highest point of the crashed Helicarrier and scanned the area. All over the place S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and civilians were being attacked and eaten by Vampires. Flying over head was Quasar and Ms. Munroe.

            “Ms. Munroe!” Piper called, but she didn’t hear her.

            There was the sound of scratching metal and below them, Piper saw at least a dozen Vampires surrounding them and climbing up to get them.

            “Hold on,” Piper told Lunella.

            She did and Piper leaped into the air, then landing right behind some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that where trying to defend a group of civilians.

            Piper hoisted herself and Lunella up in the air on her back tentacles and Venom used its tendrils to grab all the surrounding lesser Vampire’s necklaces. They all quickly turned to dust. Ivory stepped out of the crowd of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

            “Piper!” She instantly hugged Piper and Lunella, “I’m so glad you’re alive, T’Challa has been looking for you girls everywhere.”

            “He’s not still in the Helicarrier, is he?” Piper asked.

            “I’ll radio him,” Ivory said as she pulled out a walk-y talk-y. “T’Challa.”

            There was a moment of silence then, “Kind of busy here,” he said.

            “I found your daughters,” Ivory said, “They’re outside with me by the tennis courts.”

            “Thank Bast,” T’Challa said, “I’m fighting next to turtle pond and I could use a little back up.”

            Piper took the walk-y talk-y out of Ivory’s hand, “I’ll be right there.”

            “Don’t you dare,” T’Challa said, “You keep your sister safe.”

            “Well, then start tearing off their necklace’s,” Piper informed her father.

            There was another moment of silence then, “Oh, they’re being protected by magic, thanks.”

            “Be safe, T’Challa,” Piper said.

            “You too, baby girl,” T’Challa replied.

            Piper handed the walk-y talk-y back to the woman and Ivory said, “We’ll send people your way, hang in there.”

            “I don’t really have a choice here,” T’Challa answered.

            Then a cloud of bats flew overhead and from their flapping forms, out stepped Vamp and Dracula. Vamp had a fencing sword in his left hand.

            Piper pointed at Vamp accusingly, “I knew you were a secret spy!”

            “I know,” Vamp said, “and I thought you constantly calling me out on it would mess up my plans, yet here we are.”

            Dracula laughed, “That is so amusing. To think a lowly creature knew you were a spy, my son, and still we managed to have the upper hand.”

            Ivory shouted, “We still know that you’re walking among the light by these necklaces.”

            Dracula and Vamp landed in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the civilians, Ivory, Piper, and Lunella. Ivory walked up to face them while Piper got ready to run and protect Lunella.

            Dracula said, “It doesn’t matter that you know how we’re out here. Thousands of my people are roaming free; eating their fill and turning your people into my minions. Then once the sun is down, more than half of your population will be mine and the island of New York will become a new utopia for my people.”

            Ivory punched Dracula in the face. The man didn’t even flinch as the two of them engaged in fist-a-cuffs. Vamp started making his way toward Piper and Lunella.

            “So, aren’t you going to ask?” Vamp said.

            “Ask what,” Piper said as Venom started forming tendrils around Piper and Lunella.

            “How was I able to walk in broad daylight, if I’m a vampire,” Vamp elaborated as he got closer while waving his fencing sword from side to side.

            Piper started backing away and she saw Ivory get thrown into the crowd of civilians that were retreating. Dracula flew after her.

            “Well, obviously it’s one of two things,” Piper said, “You either had a spell of sun resistance that only you could use or you’re the son of a human woman who didn’t want to be a vampire. I think the human woman thing is more likely though and let me guess, she died at your birth, right?”

            Vamp hesitated for a moment then said, “Sometimes I think you know too much.”

            Then Vamp started slashing through Venom, trying to get to Piper and Lunella. Piper started running away with Lunella in her arms, but then she stopped when she noticed that a bunch of lesser Vampires were encircling them. The regular S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were barely keeping the lesser Vampires back. Venom managed to grab a hold of Vamp’s legs, but Vamp cast a fire spell and forced the Symbiote to let go. Then Vamp used the same spell to burn away the shell Venom had created around Piper and Lunella. Ceasing his moment, Vamp charged forward and attacked Piper directly. In that moment Piper turned away from Vamp’s attacked and used her body to protect Lunella. The sound of ringing metal echoed.

            Piper opened her eyes curiously, wondering why she wasn’t being flayed like a fish. Turning around she saw that Vamp’s fencing sword was broken in his hand. He was looking at it in shock. Then Piper looked at herself and noticed that her skin wasn’t soft and supple like normal skin is supposed to be, instead, her skin looked as solid as any stone. Piper smiled devilishly at Vamp then she uppercut-ed him in the chin, sending him flying.

            Piper made a back tentacle and wrapped it around Lunella, “You stay close. I need my arms. Venom, you okay?”

            Venom manifested outside of Piper looking like a buff genie without their legs, “I’ll survive, I’ll keep an eye on your back.”

            “No, keep an eye on Lunella,” Piper asked, “I’m going to kick these Vampire’s butts.”

            Piper’s skin still as solid as stone, started helping the surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D. agents protect the civilians and move them to a safer area. Piper lost site of Ivory fighting Dracula and she hoped that Ivory was okay. It was nearly sundown when the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, civilians, Piper, Lunella, and Venom managed to get out of Central park and into a restaurant that looked abandoned and was unlocked. As Piper pulled down the gate protector to make sure that the Vampires couldn’t get in easily, Lunella tugged on Piper’s pants.

            Piper looked down at Lunella to see that she held a flat screen phone in her hand, and it looked like numbers were flying over it, “Since when did you have a phone? We could’ve called Ms. Munroe.”

            Lunella shook her head violently and motioned for Piper to get down to her level. Piper did and Lunella shoved the phone-like piece of tech into her face.

            Piper said, “Lunella, I don’t know what I’m looking at. Will you please just talk to me.”

            Lunella looked away as she handed the tech to Piper.

            Piper sat cross legged on the wooden floor of the restaurant, “Are you mute?”

            Lunella shook her head.

            Piper looked over the tech again, not knowing what to do with it, “Lunella, please help me. I don’t know what you want me to see in this.”

            Lunella looked over at Piper then she sighed. Then she walked over to Piper and sat in her lap and took the tech out of Piper’s hands. Piper watched Lunella go through the data on the piece of tech. Then Piper saw that Lunella pulled up a picture of the jewel and a Vampire.

            “Okay? So, we know about the jewels protecting the Vampires. What about it?” Piper said.

            Lunella pulled up a picture of a WI-FI signal.

            “Internet signal?” Piper asked.

            Lunella shook her head.

            “Just signal?” Piper asked.

            She nodded her head.

            “You can signal the jewels?” Piper asked.

            Lunella nodded her head.

            “With your phone?” Piper asked.

            She nodded.

            “Like, right here, right now,” Piper asked getting excited.

            She shook her head.

            “Oh,” Piper said.

            Lunella pulled up a picture of a lightning bolt.

            “You need more power to send a signal?” Piper asked.

            She nodded.

            “To reverse the protective abilities of the jewels?” Piper asked.

            She nodded vigorously.

            Piper hugged Lunella excitedly, “You genius! The sooner we do this the better. We’re losing daylight.”

            Piper turned to the closest S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and grabbed their radio. Then before the two sisters left, Piper made sure that everyone was okay. Piper followed Lunella’s map to the closest power source in New York. Piper was jumping through the city with Lunella guiding her on her back. The immediate streets of New York were quiet but, in the distance, you could hear sirens blaring and gun shots going off. As Piper was about to climb up a building Piper spotted a woman run out of a dark ally way.

            “Hey,” Piper called out to them.

            She turned towards Piper’s shouting and Piper immediately regretted it as she noticed that the woman was a major Vampire. She looked more human, but with protruding fangs and sharp claws like a lesser Vampire has. Piper scrambled up the side of the building as the major Vampire raised her clawed hand and suddenly thirty lesser Vampires appeared around her. The lesser Vampires started climbing after Piper and Lunella in the setting sun light. Piper managed to get to the top of the thirty-floor tall building. Despite having a led the Vampires caught up to Piper and Lunella quickly. Venom was using its tendrils to whip away the hands of the reaching lesser Vampires as Piper ran away and was building hopping with Lunella holding on tightly. Piper was desperately climbing up a fifty-floor tall building when a thunder storm started stirring in the purple-pink sky. Then lightning fell from the sky like precise arrows, destroying the thirty pursuing lesser Vampires.

            Piper looked up expecting Ms. Munroe, but it was Thor flying down to meet them, “Oh.”

            “Why do you sound so disappointed?” Thor chuckled as he hovered in place.

            “I’m not _that_ disappointed,” Piper said as she still clung to the side of the building, “Hey, mind giving us a lift.”

            Thor asked, “Where to my friend?”

            Lunella showed him her map on her phone-like tech.

            Thor examined it easily, “Ah, I know where that is!”

            Thor then extended his hand for Piper to hold on to. Instead Venom wrapped its tendrils around his hand and Piper and Lunella hung on it like Venom was a swing.

            “I was not expecting that, but now that it has happened it feels right,” Thor said as he started flying to where Lunella’s map showed.

            Thor, Piper, Lunella, and Venom made it to their destination; the top of the Empire State Building. Lunella immediately got to work, pulling out pieces of tech from her pockets and hair as the last rays of sunlight glittered over the horizon. When Lunella finished she had a satellite dish connected to the needle of the Empire State Building, a tiny computer displaying numbers and codes, and two exposed wires. Lunella quickly walked up to Thor and gestured to his hammer. Thor lowered his hammer to Lunella, and she hooked up the two wires to Thor’s hammer then she quickly walked over to her tiny computer and started punching numbers. Then she looked to Thor and gave him a thumbs up.

            Thor started pumping Lunella’s devise with electricity and suddenly, light was exploding all around the city. Everyone watched the light show until all the lights slowly disappeared and all that was left was the city lights of the night.

            Thor stopped pumping electricity into Lunella’s devise, “Did it work?”

            “I don’t know,” Piper said, “The State Building wasn’t even the place we were originally going to, right?”

            Lunella nodded her head.

            “Yah, so I guess she changed her plans when we met up,” Piper stated.

            Lunella started packing up her stuff.

            “Do you want help down,” Thor asked.

            Piper said, “Yes, please. The adrenaline is waring off and I’m so sore right now.”

            Lunella finished picking up all her stuff and walked up to hold Piper’s hand.

            Venom did the swing thing again and held on to Thor’s hand.

            “Let’s find the others,” Thor said as he flew off with everyone.

# # #

            Thor carried them to the crash site of the Helicarrier in Central Park at Piper’s request, as that was the most likely place, they were going to find Ms. Munroe and T’Challa. When they got there, Piper was indeed correct in her intuition. When T’Challa and Ms. Munroe saw Thor fly in with Lunella and Piper they immediately went to their daughters and started pouring hugs and kisses on them. Piper was informed that before the flashing lights, happened the Vampires were overwhelming them with sheer numbers and if it wasn’t for their necklaces producing light like that of the sun, Dracula would have surely won.

            “Well good thing Lunella was here then. She’s the one who figured out how to electronically mess with those crystal necklaces,” Piper said.

            “Oh, really,” Ms. Munroe said proudly.

            Lunella nodded her head and pulled out her phone-like tech out of her front overall pocket and showed it to T’Challa and Ms. Munroe.

            T’Challa squinted at the tech, “Is that Tony’s stuff? Are you the reason he keeps complains about losing all his stuff?”

            Lunella avoided eye contact with T’Challa as she put the tech back into her pocket.

            “You’re going to have to give that back,” Piper said.

            Lunella crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from everyone.

            “Oh, boy,” Ms. Munroe sighed.

# # #

            Meanwhile in the darkest room of a freight boat heading for Europe, Vamp was kneeling in front of Dracula and apologizing profusely, even though he could barely talk because of his swollen face from Piper’s punch. Dracula approached his son and took his hand.

            “My son, do not blame yourself so harshly,” Dracula said.

            Vamp looked up at his father with misty eyes.

            Dracula continued, “I did not live as long as I have, being upset with failures and mistakes. We are alive, so we are capable of trying again; learning from the past.”

            Vamp nodded his head.

            The door to their room opened and four major Vampires stepped through, two women and two men. In their grasps they held a freight worker they managed to capture. Dracula and Vamp stood up as the four major Vampires threw their meal to the floor.

            “You have your fill first, son,” Dracula offered the scared worker.

            Vamp didn’t hesitate to take up his father’s offer and slowly sank his fangs into the freight worker. The worker fainted from blood loss and Vamp’s face finally felt better.


	17. Imprisonment: Lotiara Needs Your Help

“Hit me again!” Piper shouted at Nat. Trying to master her new hardening ability.

            Nat, the Black Widow, expertly maneuvered around Piper, making Piper look like she was randomly flailing around the government rented gym’s boxing ring.

            “Hey, Piper,” Nat called out.

            Piper turned, “Yah?”

            Nat punched Piper in the face, causing a nosebleed.

            “Ow,” Piper said as she held her face.

            “Are you okay,” Venom thought to Piper.

            “Yah,” Piper thought back while trying not to get blood on the floor.

            “You dropped your guard again,” Nat stated as she walked to the side of the ring, grabbed a hand towel, then handed it to Piper.

            Piper pressed the towel underneath her nose while breathing hard, “I sometimes don’t even know when I’m doing it or not.”

            “How about we take a break,” Nat suggested.

            The two women climbed down and walked over to the “watering hole” of the gym. Phil Coulson, Domino, Eddie, and Quasar were all hanging out there too; taking a break from their work outs and talking about how long it’ll take to get a new Helicarrier in the air.

            “Nat got you again,” Quasar stated.

            “What do you expect,” Piper said indignantly while holding the towel to her nose still, “I’d have to grow up in a secret, underground base made for specifically training people to fight to beat her.”

            “That is oddly specific,” Domino commented.

            “I don’t care,” Piper said before chugging some water. She then checked to see if her nose was still bleeding. It had stopped.

            Phil stepped up to Piper, “Hi, I’m Phil. I don’t think we’ve properly introduced ourselves to each other.”

            “Yah, I know who you are. You’re Fury’s right-hand man. No need for introductions,” Piper said through more gulps of water.

            “Oh,” Phil said.

            Eddie patted Phil’s shoulder and whispered to him, “She’s like that to everyone.”

            Piper turned to Quasar, “How old are you?”

            “I just turned twenty,” Quasar said, “Why? How old are you?”

            “Because I just want to know and good question,” Piper said then tuned to Nat and asked, “What month is it?”

            “September,” Nat answered.

            “Wow, already?” Then Piper turned back to Quasar, “I’m nineteen apparently.”

            “Awe, happy birthday to you both,” Domino said, “When where they?”

            “September 9th,” Quasar said proudly, “My abuela made me flan for my birthday.”

            “August 10th,” Piper replied.

            “Well that’s going to be disappointing to T’Challa,” Nat stated as she stretched her arms.

            “Why?” Piper scoffed in confusion.

            “I was listening in on T’Challa’s phone call with Ororo one night and they were discussing what they were going to do for your birthday if you ever would tell them when your birthday is,” Nat said nonchalantly, “They were very excited about the idea.”

            “Do you listen in to everyone’s phone calls?” Quasar said, sounding worried.

            “Not all, but most. I just like to listen and know things, Mr. Long John,” Nat said smirking at Quasar.

            Quasar instantly walked away from the group, his face completely red.

            Everyone was laughing at Quasar’s reaction as they tried to get the contexts from Nat as to why he has such a nickname. Then outside the gym there was screaming coming from the people outside. All thirty S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the rented gym ran outside to go beat up what ever was causing the screaming and to help protect the screamers. The agents noticed everyone was pointing up as they were screaming, and they looked up. It was a spaceship that looked like a solid black dreidel and it was a design that Piper and Venom were familiar with.

            “It’s a Female Badoon ship,” Venom thought to Piper, “Something must be wrong.”

            “It could also be the Male Badoon who are disguising their ships,” Piper thought back.

            The two of them readied themselves for which ever outcome would happen as spider like legs came out of the dreidel spaceship as it landed. A walkway slowly extended to the ground, away from the entrance of the gym. Piper, Venom, and a few other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents carefully walked around to the front of the spaceship. At the entrance stood a Female Badoon. Piper and Venom relaxed and told everyone to do the same. The Badoon was a lizard like humanoid, being female, she had dark green and light brown scale coloring with black speckles on her face and running down her back with the underpart of her chin down to her belly being completely white, she has orange-brown feathers growing out of her head like you would see hair grow out of a human’s head. She wore a multi-colored, toga looking dress as she jogged down the walkway.

            “Are you Piper Thatcher?” the Badoon asked when she got face to face with Nat.

            Nat pointed to Piper who was standing next to her.

            “Ah, my apologize, but no matter we need help on Lotiara. You’ve helped us have our first peaceful breading season with our male counterparts but now we need your help with something else dire,” the Female Badoon stated.

            “No time to explain?” Piper asked.

            “Only on the way to my home planet,” the Female Badoon replied.

            “Alright let’s go,” Piper said as she started to jog up the walkway.

            Nat grabbed a hold of Piper’s arm and pulled her back, “How can we trust her,” Nat whispered to Piper.

            “I’ve helped her species before. Female Badoon’s are pacifist so they generally need outside help and I trust her. Do you want to come with?” Piper asked.

            Nat didn’t hesitate when she said, “Of course I’m coming with you.”

            Then Nat and Piper started walking up the walkway.

            “Hold it! I’m coming too,” Quasar shouted from the crowd as he ran up to the walkway.

            “I think this’ll be a true adventure,” Domino stated as she walked up to the walkway.

            Piper sighed then shouted to the crowd of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, “Anyone else coming along?”

            After a minute Phil Coulson shouted, “I think that’s it. I’ll tell Fury about this for you.”

            “Thanks Phil,” Nat shouted to Phil as she ran into the black dreidel behind everyone else.

            As soon as the dreidel spaceship exited the earth’s atmosphere a Female Badoon kicked on the FTL drive and all the stars around them streaked by like spindly noodles. The spaceship on the inside was of a simple sleek chrome design, with three seats at three different panels that Piper could only guess to be the navigation, steering and defense panels. The original Female Badoon was at the steering panel and other two Female Badoon’s were at the other panels.

            “Woah,” Quasar gasped.

            Piper elbowed him, “I know right.”

            “I thank you for volunteering to help me, Piper and her symbiote,” the original Female Badoon said as she turned away from her steering panel, “I am Princess Tolaria and these are my guards and best friends Alanda,” she gestured to the lizard woman at the defense panel, “and L’Mawa,” she gestured to the lizard woman at the navigation panel. “My mother has asked me to bring you to our planet in hopes that your great knowledge may aid the Guardians.”

            “I get to see my space friends again, yes!” Piper cheered but then quickly composed herself, “What exactly has been ailing Lotiara?”

            “That is hard to explain,” Tolaria stated, “We’ve been experiencing earthquakes in areas were there should be none, we are experiencing snow in the middle of our hottest year, and recently we’ve been finding giant craters in are planet’s crust even though we have not had any meteoroids hit our surface.”

            “That sounds apocalyptic,” Quasar stated.

            “Yes, it is very scary,” Tolaria replied.

            “Does this sound like anything you’ve read before,” Venom thought to Piper.

            Piper thought back, “Yah it does, but I’ll need to see if he’s there or not.”

            “He?” Venom thought questioningly.

            Piper didn’t answer Venom and instead said to Princess Tolaria, “I’ve heard of this happening to planets before, but I would rather see it for myself. I don’t want to misdiagnose the problem.”

            “Of course, we’ll be at Lotiara any minute now,” Princess Tolaria said, “and if it’s a problem that needs to be punched, I’ll be right there to help.”

            “Not on our watch,” Alanda stated firmly.

            As the lizard women started bickering with each other, Nat grabbed ahold of Piper and dragged her into a circle that she, Domino, and Quasar had formed.

            “I’m going to come out and say that I hope you’re not bullshitting these nice ladies, Piper,” Domino started off.

            “I’m not,” Piper said, defending herself.

            “You only left earth once. What do you know about all this space history junk?” Quasar added.

            “Hey, I know what I’m doing here and I worked hard to learn what I could in the five months I was out in space and I helped a lot of planets with the Guardians, if you guys don’t trust me then I don’t know what to say to you guys,” Piper said.

            “I trust you Piper,” Nat said evenly.

            “I do too, Sugar” Domino replied.

            Quasar added, “and I do too but it just seems weird how much you know about every other thing, like your outburst with Eddie.”

            Piper just shrugged not knowing what to say.

            “We’re here,” Princess Tolaria said as the stars turned back into their little light points and they were facing a planet that looked more like a browning green color than the blue color the earth shines.

            “That is so cool,” Quasar said staring at the planet, “Do you not have any oceans?”

            “No, our planet is comprised mostly of deep lakes and rivers and shallow swamps. I’ve never seen an “ocean” until I came upon your planet,” Princess Tolaria explained as the space dreidel landed on a landing pad in the middle of a swamp clearing surrounded by spectators. “Mother will be pleased to see you again Piper.”

            The mob of Female Badoons cheered as Princess Tolaria stepped out with her bodyguards at her side, and with Piper and her friends stepping out behind them. Among the crowd of Badoons a single figure stood out from the rest; she wore a knee length white flowy dress and she wore gold around her wrists, neck, and a circlet on her head. She looks exactly like Tolaria only instead of orange brown feathers for hair the color was blue green. The lizard woman embraced the princess.

            “I’m glad you’re safe and sound,” Queen Aladi No Eke said.

            “Mother, you’re the one who decided to send me,” Princess Tolaria stated as she backed away from the hug.

            “It does not mean I do not worry,” then the Queen turned to Piper, “It is good to see you again my friends.”

            Piper kneeled on the slightly soggy firm ground, “I am honored to help your people again Aladi No Eke.”

            Venom materialized outside of Piper and said, “As well as am I.”

            Nat, Domino, and Quasar were about to kneel too when Piper quickly got up and said, “Your daughter has grown up so fast. Last time I was here she was still an egg that you haven’t laid yet.”

            “She wasn’t the only egg I had, Tolaria also has a brother who is with the Brotherhood of course,” she said bitterly.

            “Oh, I’m sorry,” Piper replied.

            “No matter,” Aladi No Eke stated, “I’m sure you wish to see your friends again. They’re at my home and we can properly introduce everyone there.”

# # #

            Since the Female Badoons mostly use their planets metal for their spaceships, Queen Aladi No Eke’s home was simpler in comparison to human Royal’s homes on earth, but in comparison to all the other simple looking sheds of her people’s kingdom, a two-story wooden house is very impressive. From inside the two-story house, Piper and Venom could hear the Guardians bickering. As soon as they entered the Queen’s and Princess’s home, they were met with the loud yelling of Gamora, Quill, and Rocket. Drax, Mantis, and Groot were standing over to the side looking at some monitors that Piper assumed Rocket set up. Drax was the first one to notice Piper and her friends.

            “Piper, you’re here,” Drax cheered as he rushed over to give her a big hug.

            With all the air squeezed out of her, Piper said, “I’m happy to see you too.”

            Mantis and Groot came over for their hugs as well while Gamora,

Quill, and Rocket didn’t even notice the new arrivals as they continued to fight. Piper introduced everyone to each other.

            “How long have they been fighting like that?” Piper asked Mantis after the introductions.

            “Long enough to make me feel drained from their fighting,” Mantis replied.

            While Domino, Quasar, and Nat talked with Groot, Drax and the two royals; Piper took off her shoe and threw it at Gamora’s face, instead it hit Quill in the side of his face.

            “What the fu-oh! Hey Piper,” Quill said.

            “Good, someone who knows a thing or two about this place,” Rocket said.

            Gamora rolled her eyes at Rocket’s comment.

            Rocket motioned for Piper to follow him to the monitors, “A week before you arrived, the planet was at its worst, but now everything seems to be suspiciously calm.”

            “Something also keeps tripping Rocket’s motion sensors that he’s managed to place around this world,” Gamora added.

            “We don’t even know what it is though cause it could just be animals,” Quill added, “This whole thing could just be a false alarm.”

            Piper looked over the photos Rocket had taken with his devices and she noticed the same exact white blur on every single photo.

            “Oh, this isn’t good,” Piper stated.

            “What the smudges?” Rocket stated, “I think it’s just the crappy equipment I had to use.”

            “No, it’s not just a smudge, it’s a blurry photo of the Silver Surfer,” Piper said confirming her fears.

            Venom immediately started freaking out and was flailing its tendrils, “We need to get away from here, now!”

            “Mantis help me calm Venom,” Piper called out.

            Mantis grabbed a flailing tendril and used her empathic powers to help sooth Venom. The symbiote retreated into Piper.

            “This Silver Surfer must be scary if Venom reacts like that,” Quasar stated.

            “Even I do not know what this Silver Surfer is,” Queen Aladi No Eke said, “Our space faring is only a decade old and our galactic knowledge is limited.”

            “I’m sorry,” Piper started to say, “but the Silver Surfer is like a chef and he prepares planets to be eaten.”

            “Who eats planets,” Domino scoffed.

            “Galactus,” Mantis answered.

            “Yep,” Piper confirmed.

            “Oh, this is bad,” Quill stated.

            “We need to get everyone off planet, right now,” Gamora added.

            “I’ll see how many people we can fit in our ship,” Rocket said as he ran out the door.

            “Wait, wait! Can’t we fight this Galactus,” Princess Tolaria asked.

            “I wish we could,” Drax replied, “But one can’t easily stop Galactus the Devourer of Worlds.”

            “So we’re to give up,” Princess Tolaria said indignantly.

            Queen Aladi No Eke placed a clawed hand on her daughter’s shoulder, “No. We are to live on and care for our people for we are nothing without them. We will find a new planet.”

            “I like this planet just fine, thank you,” Princess Tolaria stated.

            Nat walked up to Piper, “Is there really no way for us to save this planet from Galactus?”

            Piper whispered to Nat, “There are a few ways, but it won’t be easy if they work out in the first place,” then in a louder voice, “We should get these ladies off planet soon, just in case.”

# # #

            After a long three days the Guardians, Piper and her friends managed to get most of the population of the planet off the surface and are currently orbiting Lotiara. With the help of Rocket; Quill and Quasar and their partners were searching areas of resent sightings of the Silver Surfer.

            “So what are we going to do when we see the Silver Surfer,” Quill asked Piper over the radio as he flew with Nat on his back. They were flying over one of Lotiara’s deepest lakes.

            “If you guys find him first,” Piper replied, “Then I’ll tell you the information that you need, like his real name, his birth planet, helping him remember who his family was, that sort of thing. He still has a heart, but he’s being influence by Galactus.”

            Quasar asked, “Why do you know this about him?”

            Piper didn’t answer him as she looked over the swampy forest that they were flying over. In the middle of the forest they saw a giant crater. In the middle of the crater they saw the Silver Surfer making the crater deeper. Piper jumped out of Quasar’s arms and free fell to the ground with in 30 seconds and splattered. Quasar remained in the air as he and the Silver Surfer made eye contact then he started walking over to the splattered remains of Piper. Quasar was telling everyone what he was seeing. Piper had fully formed when the Silver Surfer stood before her.

            Piper stood up and stretched as she said, “That knocked the wind out of me,” she then turned her attention to the man in front of her and said, “So, Norrin Radd, do you remember anything about your planet Zenn-La or has destroying populated planets for millennia’s made you forget?”

            The Silver Surfer’s cool steely exterior seemed to crack at the mention of his name and home planet and suddenly Piper started feeling a head splitting headache. Piper hunched forward as she grasped her head, memories of everything she knows about Galactus and the Silver Surfer forced their way to the front of her mind like someone was reaching into her head and pulling them forward. The pain felt unbearable as Piper tried to mentally fight against the Silver Surfer’s prodding, but she floundered at the attempts.

            Then from the depths of Piper’s body, Venom emerged from hiding and punched the Silver Surfer in his face with all their anger and hatred.

            “Leave her alone,” Venom shouted.

The Silver Surfer was distracted enough that he didn’t phase to dodge Venom’s punch. Then Quasar swooped in and started shooting light blasts at the Silver Surfer to make him move away from Piper. This didn’t affect him though as he used his Cosmic Powers to shield himself. He then directed his attention at the symbiote.

            “You are far from home, Klyntar. Did your hivemind decide to return to this galaxy to die?” Silver Surfer stated.

            Venom silently moved in front of Piper as she stood back up, their fists trembled as they faced the Silver Surfer.

            Piper groaned then said, “Venom, don’t. I think I know what he’s after.”

            “But he’s hurting you,” Venom said, not taking his eyes of the Surfer.

            “It’s Shalla-Bal you’re looking for, isn’t it?” Piper asked while ignoring Venom’s worry.

            The look on the Silver Surfer’s face was unreadable as he hesitated.

            “Aren’t you going to look at your lover’s face?” Piper asked him as she watched Quasar repeatedly fail to teleport within the Silver Surfer’s shield.

            As she saw the Milano approach from the horizon behind Quasar, she felt the Silver Surfer enter her mind again, but this time it felt like he was being gentle. Piper presented Shalla-Bal as she remembered her in the comics. Strong, determined, and kind, with her long black hair gently being caressed by the wind as she tended to her garden on Zenn-La and wearing a loose-fitting red jump suit. The Silver Surfer focused on that image for a long time, then the trance was broken when the Milano started firing lasers at the cosmic shield. Piper opened her eyes to see the Surfer and he was gently wiping away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks and he looked at them in what Piper could only imagine was melancholy.

            While the Silver Surfer was thinking Piper walked up to the cosmic shield that was separating her and her team and she got Quasar’s attention.

            In a muffled voice Quasar said, “Can you get out?”

            Piper pressed her hand against the clear sparkly shield that felt like solid concrete and she even tried digging underneath it, but it apparently was encircling them below the dirt too.

            Piper shook her head.

            “Your knowledge of this world is almost god like,” Silver Surfer said in her mind.

            Piper turned around and saw that he was still standing where she left him, but he was staring intensely at her. Piper walked up to him as he continued talking to her with his mind.

            “Have you come to this world to destroy me? Galactus? Eternity himself?” He said in her mind.

            “Could you please us your mouth, I don’t even know you,” Piper stated when she was face to face with the cosmic being.

            The Silver Surfer gave her a look that was the equivalent of, are-you-serious-right-now? Then he turned to Venom and gave them the look of, is-she-serious?

            “I’m just here to try and convince you to go against Galactus so I can save Lotiara,” Piper said as a giant shadow loomed over head.

            “He’s here,” Venom stated.

            The ground shuddered beneath them and the Milano stopped firing at the shield and was pointed at Galactus.

            “Well fuck,” Piper said, “so are you going to-Hey!”

            The Silver Surfer was on his board and was about to fly off, but Piper wasn’t having none of it, so she grabbed a hold of the surfboard as the Silver Surfer rose into the atmosphere.

            “Why do you never think these things through,” Venom thought to Piper as they rose higher and it started to get harder for Piper to breath.

            Piper grabbed ahold of the Surfer’s leg as he made attempts to shake her off.

            “Why continue to work for Galactus, Zenn-La’s decimated,” Piper shouted before her grip slipped and she plummeted to the surface of Lotiara. Luckily, though, Quasar was following behind them the whole time and caught Piper.

            The Silver Surfer floated in front of them, “No, we made a deal, Zenn-La still lives.”

            “When was the last time you visited your planet then, huh? You’ve read my mind, you know what I know, go look if you won’t believe me,” Piper shouted at him as storms started to riot the skies as Galactus ate.

            In an instant, the Silver Surfer was gone, and Quasar was flying them towards the Milano. Groot was hanging out of the loading dock area as Quasar, Piper, and Venom flew in. Groot grabbed a hold of Piper.

            “You be safe,” Quasar told Piper.

            “You too, Quasar,” Piper replied before Quasar flew away and the loading area door closed.

            Nat and Domino embraced Piper when Groot and Piper walked up into the map/strategy room.

            “I’m so glad your safe,” Domino said.

            Nat slapped Piper upside her head, “That’s for grabbing onto that Silver Surfer like an idiot.”

            Piper felt the Milano pull up and Piper raced to the cockpit to see what they are doing. She watched as Quill and Rocket flew the Milano through the dusty, thunder clouds until they broke through and could see the void of space with all the stars and close by spaceships of the Badoons. Finally, they were able to see Galactus. The planet, Lotiara, was the size of a basketball in comparison to the Cosmic Planet Eating Man, Galactus. Eyes, burning like fiery orange suns, covered in purple armor and wearing a blue helm reminiscent of mountains. He was beautifully terrifying as the world shook and trembled beneath his hungry hands.

            “Can one of you bring up Queen Aladi No Eke for me please,” Piper asked the air.

            “I will,” Gamora replied.

            She pressed a few buttons on her console, then turned it towards Piper. It buzzed once before the Queen answered.

            “You do not need to tell me. I can see it on your face that you have failed,” Queen Aladi No Eke replied as Piper heard crying in the background.

            “I’m so sorry your majesty,” Piper replied, “I thought I could convince the Silver Surfer to help us, but we were too late.”

            “All though I wish more could have been done, you have still saved us from extinction. We will forever be in your debt,” the Queen said, “Now if you will excuse me, I must comfort my people.”

            “Of course,” Piper replied before the screen turned black, “Okay, now all we have to do is wait for the Surfer to come back and help us.”

            “I’m confused,” Rocket said, “I thought you just said that you couldn’t convince that Silver douchebag to help us.”

            “Well, it’s complicated. All I really hope is that I’ve manipulated the situation enough into our favor,” Piper replied.

            “I am Groot,” Groot said.

            “You see a light? Are you sure it’s not Quasar?” Piper asked.

            Then as soon as Piper asked her question, a giant explosion of white silvery light crashed into the side of Galactus. The explosion rocked the ship and made Galactus stop eating the planet.

            “Yes, he’s back,” Piper cheered.

            Then a bright yellow light started hitting Galactus in the face.

            “That’s Quasar,” Domino stated, “We need to help.”

            “Drax, show Nat and Domino where are artillery guns are, we’re going in,” Quill ordered.

            “On it,” Drax said as he rushed Nat and Domino to their places.

            “Piper, take Drax’s seat, this is going to get bumpy,” Quill ordered.

            “Yes, sir,” Piper said as she moved into Drax’s seat.

            As soon as Piper was buckled, Drax came on over the ship speakers, “We’re ready Quill.”

            The way the Milano flew through space was like riding a rollercoaster as Quill played his mixtape and the song Cherry Bomb was blaring. Rocket and Quill expertly switched control of the Milano between themselves, making it harder for Galactus to squish them between his hands as Drax, Domino, and Nat shot at his face. Groot and Mantis helped aim the artillery guns from their consoles in the cockpits. Traces of yellow and silver light streaked past occasionally, as Quasar and the Surfer used their powers.

            “We’re like flies to him,” Venom thought to Piper.

            That gave Piper an idea, “Yah we are,” Piper thought to Venom, then she said out loud, “Quill, give me your space helmet.”

            “What?! No!” Quill said as he flew the Milano between Galactus’s index finger and thumb.

            Piper, in goop form, got out of her seat and grabbed Quill’s collapsible helmet from the back of his neck, “Thanks,” Piper said in a watery sounding voice.

            Quill shouted, “Hey, give that back!”

“Where are you going,” Mantis asked.

Solidifying, Piper put the helmet on her neck and turned it on then in a muffled voice Piper said, “To make a nuisance of myself.”

As Piper made a made dash for the loading area Gamora followed her, trying to stop her.

“Damn it Piper do I have to tie you up like I did on Arago-7?” Gamora said in anger.

“I let you do that,” Piper said before she opened the hanger door and was sucked into the void of space.

Everything was silent to Piper as the only sound she could hear was her own breathing as she spun head over heels. The only indication of sound was the flashing lights from Quasar, The Surfer, and the Milano. As she spun through the void of space, Piper could tell she was about to collide with some part of Galactus. With a painful splat, Piper and Venom managed to grip the smooth armor with their combined tendrils and tentacles.

“So what now,” Venom thought to Piper.

Piper took a moment to look around her surroundings. Lotiara looked like it was above their heads and as Piper looked all the way up, she could see Galactus swinging his arms around.

“Damn it, I think we’re on his knee or something,” Piper thought back. Then she took a moment to breath, “Okay, we’re going to propel ourselves up to Galactus’s head and we’re going to go inside his ear.”

Piper retracted all her tentacles except for two and Venom infused its tendrils into them to help make them stickier. Piper then made the palms of her hands prickly using her hardening ability, so she has a better grip on the smooth armor as they propelled themselves up.

As they moved Venom thought, “What are we going to do in his ear.”

“Well, since we’re the size of bugs to him,” Piper thought, “I had the idea that we could be like a wasp and sting the shit out of his inner ear. Then he’ll be so annoyed that he’ll not want to eat Lotiara anymore.”

“You think we’ll get to his head before he hurts any of are friends?” Venom thought.

“God, I hope so,” Piper thought back as they made it to Galactus’s mid-drift.

            Piper and Venom were close to Galactus’s armpits, but it was getting more dangerous as Galactus was still trying to catch the Milano, the Surfer, and/or Quasar and they were trying to make their way onto Galactus’s back as that would be a much safer path for them to travel. Then Piper felt someone lifter her up from behind. Turning around Piper saw that it was Princess Tolaria in a spacesuit with built in propeller jets. Piper was gripped with an immediate panic at the thought of something bad happening to her and wondering why she was out here. Princess Tolaria pointed upwards asking if that is where Piper and Venom were going, Piper nodded then she made a going away motion, but Tolaria ignored Piper and started propelling them up towards Galactus’s head at a much faster pace than Piper and Venom were managing.

            When they reached the head Piper and Venom used their combined tendrils and tentacles to pull them into one of Galactus’s ear. It was like walking into a giant fleshy cave. Piper then hand motioned to Tolaria to stay at the entrance of the ear and that she was going to go in deeper. Tolaria nodded her head in understanding. The farther Piper and Venom floated into Galactus’s ear canal the more gross it became with sticky earwax. They worked very hard to avoid the stuff so that they wouldn’t get stuck in the earwax. Venom and Piper then found the ear drum and gently landed next to it. They grounded themselves into the flesh carefully then Piper and Venom formed a corkscrew out of Piper’s hands and arms, then she used her hardening abilities with the help of Venom. Together they pierced Galactus’s ear drum and the effect was immediate.

            The world around them rocked back and forth and golden blood spurted from the puncture they made but they didn’t stop. They continued to stab Galactus’s ear like an angry wasp. After ten stabs though, all the movement finally dislodged them from where they were and they got flung into some earwax that felt like they were in a foam pit, but stickier. It was ten minutes before the rumbling stopped and Galactus had calmed down.

            “Do you think it worked,” Venom thought to Piper.

            Piper thought, “We’ll have to see.”

            Venom and Piper struggled for twenty minutes to get out of the bloody earwax and they gently floated out of Galactus’s ear. They looked around and couldn’t find Tolaria and they didn’t see Quasar or Silver Surfer flying past. Then they made their way up to Galactus’s mountain like helm. Once they reached the top, they couldn’t see Lotiara or the Milano flying around anywhere.

            “I don’t know if he moved or if he destroyed everyone,” Piper thought to Venom.

            In her desperation to find everyone Piper’s hand slipped, and she bounced hard against the helmet and they were flying away from the moving Galactus faster than they were able to reach out and grab onto anything with their tendrils and tentacles.

            “No, no, no, no, no!” Piper shouted in her helmet as they drifted away into the void of space.


	18. Imprisonment: Hello Old Friend

Day 2

            Piper gently spun head over heels as she and Venom aimlessly floated through the void of space. Venom was acting as Piper’s space suit to help protect her from the space radiation. Piper pressed the radio button on the side of the helmet she stole from Quill, trying to see if anyone was close enough to hear her.

            “Hello?” Piper said.

            Static.

            “Is anyone out there?” Piper said.

            Static.

            “Okay, I’ll try again later,” Piper said.

            Static.

            Piper sighed as she turned off the radio. Her mouth felt uncomfortable like sticky slime was in it. She really wished she had a glass of water. Hunger gnawed at her gently, and she was trying her best to keep from thinking about it.

            “Venom,” She thought.

            “Yah,” the Symbiote thought back.

            “What was the planet like that you were on before you got to Earth,” Piper thought to ask.

            Venom thought, “It was a water world, dotted with only a few islands. The fish there were sapient, but they couldn’t walk or talk like a human could. I didn’t sight see much.”

            “Why,” Piper thought.

            “Well, I was too busy possessing these people and making them cannibalize each other,” Venom thought to state.

            “Oh,” she thought, then asked, “how did you get off?”

            “The same way I usually do. I either wait until the planet I’m on becomes advanced enough for space flight or I wait until a curious spaceship decides to land. It was the second scenario that happened,” Venom thought to her.

            Piper thought, “Okay.”

            They were silent for a while and Piper was starting to feel sleepy.

            “Hey Piper,” Venom thought.

            “Yah,” Piper thought back.

            “Will you tell me my favorite story?” Venom thought to ask.

            She yawned then though, “Sure. When I was a little bit older, Grandma said I was always getting myself into trouble when I was a toddler; climbing things I shouldn’t, trying to kiss stray animals, and running around naked. One day, I saw a racoon digging in are trash can and I apparently got it into my head that, that animal needed kisses. Next thing my grandma heard was me screaming as the racoon was biting me and jumping on me. The racoon was scared away, and I was then taken to a hospital where I had to get rabies shots. To this day I don’t remember the incident. The end.”

            “You were such a stupid small thing,” Venom thought joyfully, “I wish I was there to help.”

            “Well, if I get to live long enough, you might get to see me become a mother,” Piper thought, “I hope I can become a mother… I’m going to go to sleep now.”

            “Goodnight,” Venom thought.

            “Night,” Piper thought back as she curled up into a ball.

Day 4

            Venom, possessing an unconscious Piper, turned on the helmet radio again to try and contact help.

            “This is an emergency. Please help,” Venom said through Piper.

            Static.

            “We’ve been stuck out here for too long. Can anyone hear me?” Venom said.

            Static.

            “Please, she’s dying,” Venom shouted into the radio.

            Static.

            Venom turned off the radio and focused on keeping Piper alive by helping move her blood.

            “Piper can you hear me?” Venom thought to her.

            There was no answer, only the slight twitching of her unconscious mind that was like when she sleeps but wasn’t at the same time.

            It has been a while since Venom was alone. It’s times when Venom is alone that it misses their hivemind the most, even though its hivemind rejected it. The hivemind was trying to be good though so Venom doesn’t blame them. Being “good” has been a recent thing to the hivemind, back then at least. Venom wondered, what would have happened if it didn’t fail to mutually bond with their first host.

            Lost in thought and care for Piper’s body Venom didn’t notice that they were slowly floating into an ice shard field. Venom only noticed when it heard the ice clicking against the glass of the helmet. As soon as Venom noticed, the symbiote grabbed as many ice shards as it could using both tendrils and Piper’s hands. Within ten minutes they passed through the ice field and Venom had a sizable amount of ice gripped in their tendrils. The trick now was to get it into Piper’s mouth.

            “How long can a human last without pressurized air again?” Venom asked itself.

            Instead of risking that idea, Venom thought to absorb a piece of ice and transfer it into her stomach that way. The symbiote did this until the ice in Piper’s hands were gone. Venom could feel Piper’s body reacting to the fresh water inside her, slowly recharging her like a battery.

Day 7?

            Piper was severely dehydrated, but it wasn’t enough to kill her. Thanks to the ice and Venom’s help, she’s at the perfect balance of being almost dead. The hunger has turned into a much more vicious biter and it’s getting harder for her to ignore it. Piper checked the radio again.

            “My name is Piper Thatcher; can anyone hear me?” Piper said in a scratchy voice.

            Static.

            “We would like a little help, please,” Piper said then coughed.

            Static.

            “Old McDonald had a farm. E, I, E, I, O,” Piper halfheartedly sang.

            Static.

            Piper sighed then turned off the radio.

            “Are you okay, Piper,” Venom thought.

            Piper flared with anger, “No! I’m not okay! Not only is it my fault that I got us stuck out here like this, I could have very well destroyed Lotiara with my actions. I could have killed my friends.”

            If she had the body fluid to spare, she would’ve cried. They were silent for a while as they spun gently though space.

            Then Piper thought, “I’m sorry Venom. I shouldn’t’ve snapped at you like that.”

            “Thank you,” Venom thought back, “but I understand the need to explode every once in a while.”

            Piper decided to count the ice shards again to pass the time.

            When she finished counting all one hundred shards, Piper thought to ask, “Venom, how did you do it?”

            “Do what?” Venom thought.

            “You’ve been floating out in space for God knows how long, before we met, and you don’t seem to have gone crazy at all,” Piper thought.

            Venom thought back, “I did go crazy and I still am Piper.”

            “Well, are you really crazy if you say you are crazy?” Piper thought to ask.

            “Piper, that’s like saying, are you really depressed if you say your depressed. The person is still depressed and I’m still crazy,” Venom though in annoyance.

            “Oh, sorry, that’s a good point” Piper thought, “How did you go crazy, what makes you still crazy?”

            Venom didn’t answer for a minute, then it thought, “We Klyntar’s are very social creatures, being a hivemind and all. Even if we are not a part of the hive, we are all capable of communicating with each other telepathically, that is until the whole rejects the one. When I failed to bond with my first host after the rebellion against Knull, I was cast out. Klyntar’s aren’t meant to be alone Piper. I spent centuries trying to get back to them, trying to prove to them that I could bond well with someone, forcing myself onto people. Then at some point, I developed this need to eat and I forced my hosts to eat too. What makes me still crazy? The fact that I still have this need to force my host to cannibalize is what makes me crazy.”

            They were silent for a while. Then Piper hugged herself so she could hug Venom.

Day 14?

            Piper was half-singing the song “Big and Chunky” from the movie Madagascar 2 into the radio, trying her best to ignore her painful hunger.

            Static.

            “Thank you, listeners, for your wonderful comments,” Piper said.

            Static.

            “Come back in an undetermined amount of time and I’ll sing it again,” Piper said.

            Static.

            Piper then turned off the radio and started counting the ice shards again. When she finished counting all fifty of them, she then tried to go to sleep.

            “Piper,” Venom thought.

            “Yes,” Piper thought back.

            “You know everything, right?” Venom thought.

            “In this universe, almost everything, why?” Piper thought.

            “Do you know when we’re going to get picked up,” Venom thought.

            “No, I don’t. I only know people and certain events in this world, Venom. I don’t know what the writer of our story is going to currently do with us,” Piper thought to state.

            “I hope Writer doesn’t kill you,” Venom thought.

            “Who knows. Depends on what the writer’s theme has been since I got here two years ago,” Piper thought.

            “Theme?” Venom thought to question.

            “Yah, like dark and brooding or silly or sexy,” Piper thought, “Personally, I think the theme is heartfelt sadness, but I’m not the writer so who knows.”

            “My Writer must be dark and brooding then,” Venom thought.

            Piper’s cracked lips bled when she smiled then she thought, “Good night.”

            “Good night,” Venom thought back.

Day 21?

            There were no more ice shards and the possibility of floating through some ice again was very low. The radio was permanently on now as they have gotten use to the sound of static. Piper was mindlessly humming as Venom and Piper thought to each other.

            “When we get saved, I’m going to eat so much bananas and strawberries,” Venom thought.

            “I want to eat Sushi and Maki rolls,” Piper thought back.

            “That sounds good too,” Venom thought.

            “and I want to take a shower in really hot water,” Piper thought.

            “Yah,” Venom thought.

            “I’m going to give T’Challa, Ms. Monroe, and Lunella all big hugs and kisses,” Piper continued to think.

            “Yah,” Venom thought, “and I’m going to buy a D&D set and be a DM.”

            “Yah,” Piper thought.

            “And I’m going to start my own Youtube gaming channel,” Venom thought.

            “Yah,” Piper thought.

            The two of them continued thinking like this until Piper couldn’t keep her eyes open any more. Piper curled up into a ball.

            “Piper, stay awake,” Venom thought.

            She didn’t answer.

            “Piper please,” Venom thought.

            Piper fell into unconsciousness.

# # #

            When Piper woke up, she felt heavy and there was a light coming from somewhere. Piper slowly forced her eyes open. Light was shining into her face from underneath a closed door. She then noticed that she was under some blankets and was resting in someone’s bed.

            “Venom,” Piper thought.

            “I’m still here,” the symbiote thought.

            “Oh, good. I’m not dead… Where are we?” Piper thought to ask.

            “I don’t know. Some time after you passed out a giant ship found us, and tractor beamed us in. Then for some reason they took my necklace and Quill’s helmet,” Venom said.

            Piper slowly sat up and looked around the semi-dark room. It was fancy; with shag carpeting, a vanity table, a wardrobe, a door leading to a presumed bathroom, and the bed was king sized with fancy hanging bed curtains.

            “Why put us in here then if they’re just going to loot us,” Piper thought.

            “Well this weird purple man saw you and he said he recognized you and he ordered everyone to be kind to you and put you in his room,” Venom thought.

            “I don’t remember meeting any purple people,” Piper thought back.

            Piper got out of the bed then fell to her hands and knees.

            “Here, let me help,” Venom though as it formed its tendrils into a walker.

            Piper steadied herself on the walker, then with Venom’s help they made it to the door that had lights coming out of its bottom. She tried to open it, but it was locked.

            “Let’s try the other door,” Venom thought.

            Opening the door and flipping a switch, Piper’s initial thought was right, it was a bathroom.

            “Oh, thank god, I need a shower,” Piper thought to Venom.

            Piper hobbled over to the shower and slid open the foggy glass door. Once inside she closed the door behind her, stripped, and threw her clothes over the top of the door. Once she figured out the nobs, she stood under the water with her mouth wide open, letting it fill up and she would then shoot it out like a fountain. Piper’s legs were starting to give out, so Venom formed itself into a chair for Piper to sit in. After thirty minutes in the shower, Piper got out and had a hard looked at herself in the full body bathroom mirror. Her cheeks were gaunt, she could see her rib cage, her arms were as thin as her bones, and she had a thigh gap.

            “God, I was out there for a long time,” Piper thought to Venom as she found a towel and dried off.

            “Let’s find some clean clothes,” Venom thought.

            Using Venom’s walker form again, Piper hobbled over to the wardrobe next to the vanity. The clothes inside were huge, they had to be quadruple-ly large. Most of it was the same gold and blue armor, but Piper found a simple brown shirt and pants and thankfully a belt. As soon as Piper was dressed, she heard the main door unlock and open. The lights turned on and in stepped Nebula with some clothes in her hands. The two woman stared at each other for a moment.

            “Ooooooh. That purple guy,” Piper thought to Venom, “The same sets of armor makes since now. Why does he think we’ve met though?”

            “What are you doing,” Nebula shrieked as she quickly closed the door behind her and threw the clothes on the bed, “Get out of those!”

            The blue cyborg went up to Piper and quickly took off the clothes she had just put on.

            “What would Thanos think if he saw you in his clothes,” Nebula said.

            “She’s lucky she’s made of mostly metal or I would have bitten her head off for being so rough with you,” Venom thought to Piper.

            “She’s had a hard life, don’t be mean,” Piper thought to Venom as Nebula pushed the clothes back into the wardrobe and shoved the clothes she brought into Piper’s arms.

            “I don’t care if you know Thanos or not, but you will respect him and his stuff,” Nebula stated firmly.

            Piper looked at the clothes she was given. They looked like they would fit her better, being a pair of cargo pants and a tank top, exactly like the clothes that Nebula was wearing so they must be hers.

            “Thank you,” Piper croaked out.

            Nebula crossed her arms and looked away as Piper got dressed.

            When Piper finished getting dressed Nebula said, “Come on. He’s waiting for you at his private dining area.”

            She walked off at a quick pace that Piper couldn’t keep up with. Piper used the steel walls as support as she walked behind Nebula, asking Venom to stay hidden. Piper passed horrifying radiation poisoned lizard looking soldiers who snarled at her as they passed by. She saw Ebony Maw placing containers into what looked like incubators in the ceiling and passed a training room that Black Swan and Proxima Midnight were fighting each other in. A large, reptilian-looking minotaur-like alien stood in Nebula and Piper’s way, it was Black Dwarf.

            “Who’s the pipsqueak,” He growled.

            “A guest of Thanos. Now step aside,” Nebula answered.

            Black Dwarf laughed, “What would Thanos want with her. This creature is so frail.” Then he pushed Piper back hard enough that she fell to the floor.

            Piper croaked, “Not as frail as your ego. The only way you could’ve became a member of Thanos’s elite is if a meteor crashed on your planet and you survived through stupidity.”

            Nebula place a hand over her mouth as Black Dwarf growled at Piper. Piper continued to stare down Black Dwarf as she got up from the floor.

            “Now excuse us,” Piper said as she walked around Black Dwarf with Nebula walking beside her.

            As soon as they were far enough way from Black Dwarf, Nebula lowered her hand to reveal a smile.

            Piper asked, “Do you want to hear how Gamora is doing?”

            Nebula’s smile vanished and she looked away, “No.”

            Finally, they made it to the private dining room. Thanos sat at a table loaded to the brim with different food stuffs. Giant windows looked out into the void of space as soft light illuminated the room.

            After taking a sip of champagne Thanos said, “Hello, old friend.”

            Confused by Thanos’s greeting and distracted by all the food, Piper could only wave.

            “I’m sure my daughter treated you well,” Thanos asked.

            “Huh, oh, yes. She was great,” Piper said.

            “Good. Nebula, you may go now,” Thanos ordered.

            Nebula bowed, “Yes, father.” Then she walked away.

            Thanos patted the only vacant seat at the diner table, “Come. Sit down.”

            “This has to be a trap,” Venom thought to Piper as she walked towards the seat.

            As Piper sat down, drool escaped her mouth and she quickly wiped it away. There were all kinds of alien looking foods on the table. Half of it was raw meat and fish while the rest were cooked delicacies of fruits, vegetables, and other kinds of meat she couldn’t figure out. It was like Thanos knew what kinds of food she liked. When Piper glanced sideways at Thanos, he was already eating.

            “I’m too hungry to care if it’s a trap,” Piper thought to Venom as she grabbed a forearm long raw fish, unhinged her jaws and ate it in two bites.

            While they ate Thanos asked Piper casual questions like how she was, what she’s been doing, how she ended up in space, and so on. Piper answered the questions the best she could considering her focus was more on the food. By the time Piper had finished eating, half of the table of food was gone and she had drunk one bottle of champagne. Piper would have preferred water, of course, but she was too scared to ask for any from the mad titan. Piper leaned back into her chair satisfied.

            “What did you think of the food. I made it myself,” Thanos asked.

            Piper said, “It was really good. Do you cook for yourself, so no one has the chance poison you?”

            Thanos picked up his champagne glass and swirled it around in his gloved hand, “Yes, a few years ago we had a bit of an incident with the staff and hiring team. Now they are no more.” He sipped his champagne and sat it down.

            Thanos then asked, “Have you and your symbiote become a mother yet. I remember you telling me that was your wish.”

            Piper was silent for a moment, shocked by the very personal question.

            “So, uh, listen. I really appreciate your hospitality and the food and saving my life from becoming a space skeleton, but this is the first time I’ve met you and it’s really freaking me out,” Piper said in a rush.

            Thanos raised his right hand, showing off the full golden luster of the Infinity Gauntlet. On the back of Thanos’s hand sat three stones; a purple one, an orange one, and a green one that looked like the stone from Venom’s necklace. Piper stared at it; awe struck.

            “So, you haven’t gone back in time yet then,” Thanos stated, “Let me ask you a question then, since my reputation presides me; why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance?”

            Piper shrugged, “I don’t know. It hasn’t happened yet; besides I’m not destined to kill you.”

            “You think someone else is destined to kill me,” Thanos smiled smugly.

            Piper shrugged again, “We’re all destined to die at some point. We are only mortal.”

            “Once I find all six infinity stones, I’ll be a god,” Thanos stated, “Then I’ll be able to stand by Death’s side as an equal, earn her love and the only writer of my destiny will be me.”

            “We need to get the Time Stone back,” Venom thought to Piper.

            “What are you going to do with me now,” Piper asked Thanos.

            Thanos stood up and walked over to the window. While looking out the window he said, “When we were stuck on that planet, I saw the way you hunted your pray. You killed animals ten times your size and you ate every bit of them after sharing your kill with me,” He then turned around to meet Piper’s gaze, “I want us to work together like that, I want that raw power that you have. Help me find the other half of the Infinity Stones and I’ll give you a god’s blessing.”

            Piper chuckled nervously, “Oh, you sweet talker… Uh, can I think about it. It’s a lot to take in.”

            “I’ll give you an hour,” Thanos replied, “Then if you refuse, I’ll throw you out the nearest air lock as I’m sure you want the Time Stone if you’re not convinced.”

            Piper smiled blankly at his reply, “That’s fair.”

# # #

            Piper paced in a hobbling fashion in the super freezing air lock. It was dark except for one light coming from the security camera.

            “Venom, what are we going to do,” Piper thought as she rubbed her arms.

            “You could accept his offer and wait for the perfect moment for him to drop his guard,” Venom thought.

            “Thanos isn’t an idiot, Venom,” Piper thought as her teeth chattered, “He obviously knows what I’m like and what I can do. I mean he freaking put us in an air lock that’s so cold I can’t turn into my goop form to wriggle through the air lock cracks. He even knows about you so we can’t surprise him with that.”

            “It’s not like we can fight him either, not with you like this,” Venom thought.

            Piper started patting the cold walls of the air lock, “Maybe I can do some damage with the wiring in the walls. Set them off balance.”

            “You shouldn’t do that, you don’t know what wires go to what, and you might open the air lock prematurely,” Venom thought.

            Piper threw up her hands in frustration, “Well then I guess I’m going to die.”

            Piper sat down on the freezing floor and stared down the security camera.

            After some time passed of dreadful silence, the speaker phone turned on. Piper was ready to metaphorically spit in Thanos’s face.

            “How do you know Gamora,” Nebula asked over the speaker phone.

            Piper was surprised that the hour wasn’t up yet.

            “Uh, well, long story short I got kidnapped, then Gamora and her friends stole me from my kidnappers, and we’ve been friends ever since. She’s like a big sister to me,” Piper replied through chattering teeth, “But I thought you didn’t want to know how Gamora was.”

            “Well, I changed my mind,” Nebula snapped.

            There was silence for a minute in the frosty air.

            “How is Gamora,” Nebula asked in a softer voice.

            “She’s happy to be away from Thanos, but she misses you,” Piper said honestly.

            Nebula huffed into the microphone like she didn’t believe Piper.

            “What?” Piper said.

            “So, what makes you two so buddy-buddy that you would call Gamora a sister,” Nebula said. Her words dripping with malice.

            Piper thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t think I should answer that.”

            “Excuse you,” Nebula balked.

            “I would rather tell you about Gamora, not about my relationship with her. Like one time we were both have trouble sleeping and she told me about her nightmares of hearing you screaming from your constant cyborg implants and how guilty she felt about it.”

            There was no answer, so Piper continued.

            “One time she told me about when she found out what your favorite fruit was and she attempted to steal a whole bunch from the kitchen and when she got caught, she got a nasty beating,” Piper told Nebula.

            There was still no answer, so Piper told her the final story she and Gamora discussed.

            “One time, Gamora was in a drunken stupor, and she told me about how strong she thought you were. That despite the fact you kept losing to her in the battles Thanos forced you two in, she always saw that spark of determination in your eyes. Gamora said she admired that about you,” Piper said finishing her story, “but don’t tell her I told you that, she won’t remember, and she’ll deny it anyways. The point is though, she still loves you and she misses you.”

            There was once again no answer.

            Piper sighed and thought to herself that Nebula probably would never believe her. Even though she was going to die, at least she planted the seed that Gamora does truly love her sister.

            “I hope they can be together and have a happy life,” Piper thought to Venom as she stood up from the cold floor.

            “We need a miracle to get out of this huh,” Venom thought.

            As Piper was rubbing her butt to get some warmth back into the area the giant metal door leading back into the ship slid open. In its wake stood Nebula.

            Piper walked up to Nebula, “Isn’t this the epitome of disrespecting Thanos?”

            Piper saw a mix of emotions pass over Nebula’s face. She then tossed a small chip like device to Piper, “Here.”

            It was Quill’s space helmet. Piper quickly place it on the back of her neck for safe keeping.

            Nebula started fast walking away and Piper followed as quickly as she could behind her as the air lock closed behind them.

            “The Black Order are out on a planet Thanos has deemed in need of sanitization. Getting to an escape pod will be much easier this way,” Nebula stated.

            “Are you coming with? You’ll be in a lot of danger if you stay here after helping me,” Piper said.

            “What about the infinity Time Stone, we can’t leave it with him,” Venom thought to Piper.

            “I don’t have the strength right now to try and fight him,” Piper thought back, “Plus, I don’t even know what the other infinity stones are that Thanos has. What if he has the reality stone.”

            “I’m staying,” Nebula replied.

            “What! No, that’s a terrible idea,” Piper said, “Thanos will tear you apart.”

            “I’ll deserve it,” Nebula said.

            The ship shook and temporarily knocked Piper off balance. Alarms across the ship started going off.

            “Is that normal,” Piper asked.

            “Yes, the citizens on the planet must be fighting back,” Nebula said as she kept moving forward, “But, they are fighting the inevitable.”

            Then a blinding ray of yellow light cut through the hull, sucking Nebula and Piper towards the void of space. The ship’s emergency hull shielding’s kicked in and prevented Nebula and Piper from being pulled into the vacuum.

            “What the fuck was that?” Nebula said.

            “Was that yellow light… familiar?” Venom thought to Piper.

            Piper smiled wide and said, “I don’t think the planet is fighting on its own.”

            Nebula grabbed Piper’s arm, “We don’t have time. Come on, before the construction bots get here.”

            Nebula dragged Piper behind her as she ran. Piper tried to keep up and she mostly did with Venom’s help. They rounded a corner and came across the horrible looking soldiers fighting something. After a few gun shots the mutated lizard soldiers were laying on the floor dead. Standing in their mists were Domino and Groot.

            “Guys!” Piper shrieked with excitement. Piper ran up to Domino and gave her a big hug and did the same to Groot.

            “What are you guys doing here?” Piper said while Nebula stood behind her.

            “We’ve been looking for you,” Domino said.

            “I am Groot,” Groot said.

            “Oh, yah! I keep forgetting your superpower is “good luck”, but I thought it was limited to only you,” Piper said.

            “Well, it’d be good luck for _me_ to see _you_ again,” Domino replied as she patted Piper’s head.

            “Yah, yah. That’s very nice. If you know them then you’re in good hands,” Nebula said as she started to leave.

            “Nebula don’t go. Come with us. Don’t you want to see Gamora,” Piper pleaded.

            Nebula sighed, “Just tell her… that I’m glad she’s happy.”

            Piper was going to go after Nebula, but the ship shook again. Groot then picked up Piper and carried her bridal style and they started to follow behind Domino as they ran away. Then they ran into more of those horrible soldier things.

            “I always wanted to do this,” Venom thought as they manifested outside of Piper’s body like a buff genie.

            Venom started punching all the soldiers into paste while screaming “ORA”, repeatedly.

            As soon as Venom finished beating down the soldiers Domino said, “I love that Anime. Now come on. We’re almost to the Milano.”

            They ran down some more metal hallways as the shaking of the hull grew in intensity. When they made it to the Milano Thanos was there with Quill, Drax, and Mantis unconscious on the floor with Rocket being held up in the air by Thanos’s one hand.

            “What a shame Piper,” Thanos said as he threw Rocket into the wall of the Milano, “We could have been friends. Just like old times.”

            Rocket laid unconscious on the ground with the others. Groot placed Piper on the floor and got ready to fight Thanos with Domino.

            “I am Groot,” Groot said.

            “You’re going to make me pay?” Thanos smiled at the idea as he readied to fight.

            Domino went in, gun blazing as Groot turned his arms into long wooden spears. Thanos tore off a piece of his broken ship and used it as a shield against the gun fire. Then Groot came in for a sneak attack, using his feet vines and ensnaring Thanos to the spot. Groot was about to impale Thanos when there was a flash of green light.

            Domino was about to start firing her gun at Thanos, but Thanos threw a piece of metal at her before she could use her gun and Domino lost her gun. Groot was going to use his vine feet trick but Thanos used another sharp piece of metal from his ship and cut Groot’s legs off. Groot grew his feet back within seconds. Domino picked up some of Groot’s vines and started entwining them around his neck and arms. Suddenly Gamora jumped out of the shadows and stabbed Thanos in the back and Groot was about to stab him too but then there was a flash of green light. This pattered continued to happen.

            “This is bad,” Piper thought to Venom.

            “I know. It’s like he’s predicting everything they do,” Venom thought back.

            “He’s turning back time using the Time Stone, Venom,” Piper thought.

            “That explains the déjà vu I’ve been have from watching this battle,” Venom thought.

            “We need to get it away from him,” Piper thought as the green light flashed again.

            With no time to spare Piper turned into her goop form and started slithering her way up to Thanos who was distracted by Gamora, Domino, and Groot.

            “What are you doing,” Venom thought to Piper as they made it up to Thanos’s leg and was working up his back.

            “No time,” Piper thought back as she made it to Thanos’s gloved hand and grabbed onto all three infinity stones at once.

            Piper and Venom felt an unnatural rush of energy course through them. Thanos, finally noticed them and tried to get them off. Venom and Piper pulled the three infinity stones out of Thanos’s gauntlet and jumped off him. Thanos tried to grab the infinity stones back but Piper froze time. Piper and Venom gently picked up all their unconscious friends and placed them in the Milano. They then went up to Gamora and placed a hand on her and intentionally unfroze her.

            “What the—Piper?” She then saw the three infinity stones in her grasp, “Oh no. Piper, what are you doing?”

            “Is anyone else we know on Thanos’s ship,” Piper asked, her voice vibrating from the force of the purple Power Stone she was holding.

            “Nat is probably still finishing setting up the last of Rocket’s bombs we placed on the ship,” Gamora said as she looked at her bracelet that had a 3D holo-gram version of Thanos’s ship, “If she’s finished, she should be here.”

            Gamora was pointing at a part of the ship that was close to the center.

            “Thanks. See you in a bit,” Piper said as she took the bracelet and left Gamora frozen in time.

            It took Piper and Venom an hour to find Nat. She was running away from the bomb she set up. The bomb read five minutes. Venom and Piper gently picked up Nat and brought her to the Milano. Piper and Venom then picked up Domino, Gamora, and Groot and placed them in the Milano. Venom and Piper counted to make sure they had everyone. Then Piper went to find Nebula. They found her next to one of the bombs. She was staring at it like she was willing it to explode. Once Piper and Venom had everyone safely strapped into the Milano, Piper used the orange Mind Stone to know how to drive the Milano and drove them all away from Thanos’s ship. They were far enough away that they could see the yellow and white light of Quasar and The Silver Surfer surrounding the ship. Smaller ships were fighting around Thanos’s bigger ship and behind Thanos’s ship was a grayish blue planet. Piper then unfroze time.

            There was a lot of sudden confused shouts and screams. Gamora, who was sitting in the copilot seat next to Piper, looked around in confusion.

            “We didn’t mess up your guys plan, right?” Piper said as her voice vibrated still.

            “What did you do,” Gamora asked slightly horrified.

            “I just moved everyone into the Milano and instantaneously learned how to drive it,” Piper said, “Any way to contact everyone about the bombs.”

            “Oh, yah,” Gamora replied. Then Gamora contacted the planet’s home fleets and with in five minutes, Thanos’s ship silently exploded. The Silver Surfer and Quasar then pushed the ship away and let it float in the void of space. The planet’s fleets then picked off the rest of the smaller ships.

# # #

            Piper and Venom stood very still as Rocket came up to them with a special container for holding the Power Stone. Everyone on the ship except for Nebula waited with bated breath as Piper exposed the Power Stone to the container and the small round container sucked up the stone and closed itself up. Piper breathed in and out heavily like she just ran a marathon. A cold sweat started to form on her body, and she collapsed on the floor of the Milano. Rocket went away to put it somewhere save.

            “Thank god that’s off of me,” Piper said as Quasar, Nat, and Domino went up to her to help her into the nearest chair, “Now that that’s over, I have to know. Did Lotiara make it, is Princess Tolaria still alive?”

            Mantis answered her, “Their planet still lives, and Quasar managed to save her from drifting into space.”

            “Oh, thank god,” Piper sighed, “I was so worried.”

            “I’m sorry,” Quasar said.

            “What for?” Piper asked.

            “If I was faster, I would have been able to save you too. I should have done better,” Quasar answered.

            “Quasar, I’m not blaming you so please, don’t blame yourself,” Piper said as she patted her friend’s shoulder.

            Nat whispered into Piper’s ear, “Thank you for saying that. We’ve been saying that to him for weeks and I think you were the only person he was going to listen to.”

            Silver Surfer stepped up, “What will you do with the infinity stones?”

            “I’m letting the Guardians keep the Power Stone to put it wherever they want it,” Piper started, “I’m keeping the Time Stone and I’m thinking about giving the Mind Stone to Tony.”

            “Do you think it is wise to have two stones in the same place,” Silver Surfer stated.

            Piper shrugged, “I’m not trying to make a wise choice, I’m trying to make the best choice.”

            Silver Surfer gave Piper a tactical look.

            “I am impressed Piper,” Drax interrupted, “You truly are an amazing warrior, being able to hold three out of the six infinity stones. What did it feel like?”

            “Like I was a water balloon, ripe to pop at any moment,” Piper answered.

            Drax started to walk off to the kitchen, “I will make you my wife’s special casserole for you as celebration for your return.”

            “Thank you Drax,” Piper called out.

            Gamora went up to Piper and held her hand and whispered to her, “Thank you. For saving my sister.”

            Piper nodded and Gamora then went to her room where Nebula was bunking with her.

            “So, what are you going to do now,” Piper asked the Silver Surfer.

            “I will go to Earth with you. One day Galactus will find your planet and I would like to be there to help defend your planet, since I couldn’t defend mine,” Silver Surfer said out loud. Then he entered Piper’s mind and said, “I also wish to find my love and you most likely know where she could be.”

            “Okay,” Piper said out loud.

            Quill stretched and said, “Welp. Let’s get flying,” and he started to walk away but then Piper remembered his helmet.

            She took the device off her neck and said, “Quill, thanks for the helmet,” then threw it at him.

            Quill caught it and put it on the back of his neck and said, “A.) Next time don’t steal from me and B.) you’re welcome.”


	19. Imprisonment: Wakanda

Piper and Venom were walking to Nick Fury's office in the new Helicarrier, because they were summoned to his office. They passed some S.H.I.E.L.D agents who were engrossed in conversations about vampire sightings and how the Sentinels seemed to have less appearances across America now a days and what they're going to have for dinner. They even passed some of their teammates and they asked Piper how she's been recovering from her starvation and dehydration, to which she always answered, "Pretty good."

Piper knocked on Fury's office door and when she was allowed in, Piper was pleasantly surprised to see T'Challa standing in Fury's office as he looked at the cloudy horizon out the window. Fury was at his desk, hands folded in front of him. T'Challa turned and smiled at Piper and held out his arms expecting a hug. Piper gladly went to her father to give him a hug.

"What are you doing here, T'Challa," Piper asked him as she stepped back from the hug.

"He's your new assignment," Fury answered.

"Assignment? Why what's wrong?" Piper asked T'Challa.

"I promise, nothing is wrong," T'Challa replied.

"He has simply asked that you be his bodyguard," Fury added.

"What about the Dora… what's the last part," Piper started to ask.

"The Dora Milaje?" T'Challa asked.

"Yah, Them! What about them, are they not going to be with you?" Piper asked.

"They'll be there as well, but I would like to start hiring other warriors that I trust from outside of Wakanda to better our ties with the outside world," T'Challa answered.

"And you decided to start with your adopted daughter," Piper said in a criticizing voice.

T'Challa's smile grew wider as he nodded, "I'm sure you'll do great."

Piper then asked, "When am I doing this?"

"Today, as soon as you sign these papers," Fury answered as he presented a pen and pushed some papers that were on his desk towards Piper.

Piper signed the papers and followed T'Challa out of Fury's office and to the fifth landing pad on top of the Helicarrier. The late December wind made her want to get back inside as fast as she could.

"So, what's Wakanda like," Venom thought to ask Piper as they speed walked to T'Challa's airplane.

"I've only ever seen Wakanda in drawings, but it's a beautiful place and I'm excited to see it in person," Piper thought back.

The plane door closed behind them as they walked into the small airplane. Piper couldn't help but smile in wonder at how technologically advanced the plane was. Everything was sleek and smooth, considering it was completely made of vibranium, except for a few decorations like small crossed spears hanging under a black panther wooden mask; that were hanging over entrance ways. Two women stepped out of the piloting area, they were both wearing red uniforms but one was wearing gold jewelry and the other was wearing silver jewelry. They both bowed in comic seriousness to T'Challa.

"Stop, stop," T'Challa said playfully, "Nareema, Aneka, you know we don't do that anymore." T'Challa then went up to them and grabbed them by the forearms and place a hand on their shoulders, it was like an intimate handshake for best friends.

"It's good to see you again, my king," the Dora Milaje in gold said.

"Thank you for picking us up here," T'Challa replied.

Something then clicked in Piper's head and she shouted without thinking, "You're a king!"

The three adults stared at Piper.

"I thought you knew your dad was a King," Venom thought to Piper.

"I did but I didn't at the same time," Piper thought back, "Wait, Ms. Munroe's a Queen too. I got adopted by a royal family!"

"Is that bad?" Venom thought, confused by Piper's panic.

"Nooooo, it's just weird," Piper thought, "and just when I started getting use to having a new family."

Piper was pulled from her conversation with Venom when T'Challa placed a hand on Piper's shoulder, "Aneka, Nareema meet my binti iliyopitishwa, Piper Thatcher," He said.

Piper gave a small wave, "Um… Hujambo?"

T'Challa and the Dora Milaje in gold smiled brightly at Piper's attempt at saying a Swahili word, the Dora Milaje in silver raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her. The Dora Milaje in gold walked up to Piper and did the handshake thing that the three of them did to each other.

"I am Aneka, it's a pleasure to meet T'Challa's other daughter," she said warmly.

Venom manifested itself outside of Piper's body as an upside-down tear drop, "This is Venom, my alien friend," Piper said introducing the symbiote.

Aneka gave Venom an uncertain smile, "Hello."

"It's very nice to meet you," Venom said in their deep voice.

"So why is she here?" Nareema said in a cut and dry tone of voice.

T'Challa stood behind Piper and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, "She's a part of my attempt at connecting us more with the outside world by hiring her as a bodyguard."

Nareema gave T'Challa a scrutinizing look.

T'Challa rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I also wanted to spend some one on one time with her outside of the S.H.I.E.L.D agency."

Venom and Piper looked up at T'Challa and Piper asked, "Are we just a lie then?"

"No, no," T'Challa said, "You're still a hired bodyguard, but this isn't a high-risk mission or anything. It's just time to discuss with the elders the yearly government budget of Wakanda and I thought it would be nice to enjoy each other's company."

Piper gave T'Challa a skeptical look. She knows what this world is like and she knew that nothing happening wasn't going to happen, even though she didn't know what would happen. Then she smiled at her father, "Alright, I would love to spend some one on one time with you too."

"Awe, that's so sweet," Aneka cooed.

"Hey, where's—" Piper started to say then the plane started taking off, "—Oh, Nareema's piloting. Got it."

"Let's sit down and buckle up before we hit any turbulence," T'Challa said as he walked away into the seat-less plane.

Piper was about to question what he meant but then as T'Challa and Aneka started to sit down, liquid metal started to rise and shape shift into a solid metal chair.

Piper gasped and her brown eyes sparkled with excitement, "Advanced foldable chairs!"

In the hour-long flight to Wakanda, T'Challa and Piper talked about many different things. T'Challa asked Piper how many languages she's been studying, how she's feels about S.H.I.E.L.D., if Lunella has talked to her yet, if she has any crushes on any boys in S.H.I.E.L.D., and so on. Piper in that order answered; Spanish and Swahili, it's okay, no, and she's not really interested in boy's very much.

"Why aren't you interested in any of the boys?" T'Challa asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Oh, it's no big deal," Piper said, "Back when I was in a gang, I had a boyfriend from the same gang," Piper rubbed the back of her neck and didn't meet T'Challa's gaze, "It didn't really work out. Don't get me wrong, there are some sweet guys working in S.H.I.E.L.D., but I'm a little wary of dating men nowadays. I can tell you about the women I have crushes on."

T'Challa shrugged, "Okay, I would love to hear them."

"But not right now, we've been talking so much about me. Do you have any more stories about when you were younger?" Piper asked.

T'Challa thought for a moment, "Have I ever told you that when I was eight, I tried to join the Dora Milaje?"

Piper shook her head, "No, you haven't."

"We're approaching Wakanda's boarders," Nareema called from the pilot's seat.

Piper was mixed with the emotions of excitement and disappointment.

T'Challa unbuckled and stood up, "Would you like to see are landing?"

"Yes, please," Piper said as she quickly got out of her seat.

T'Challa led Piper to the pilot's cockpit as they neared an area where there were huge mountains and tall trees of Baobab, Buffalothorn, Jackalberry, and Wild Date Palms. Piper couldn't contain her excitement and lightly jumped up and down.

"Wakanda is covered in an invisibility force field! Do we need a password?" Piper asked.

T'Challa wrapped an arm around Piper's shoulders and pulled her in close, "You're a perceptive one," T'Challa stated, "But there is no need for passwords. We actually have a pretty big tourist industry that is booming, and the force field is more for show at the time being."

When they passed through the sparky wall of the invisible force field a shiny city that looked like it is one with its surroundings stood proud. The layout of the country of Wakanda was built with farms on the outside and the further into the center of Wakanda you went the denser the buildings and population got.

"I'm not surprised that you have a booming tourist industry going," Piper said, "Your home is beautiful."

"Our home, Piper, and yes, it is beautiful. I'm glad you could finally see it," T'Challa replied.

Piper looked down at her feet and smiled a melancholy smile. As she was looking back up to gaze at the view some more, out of the corner of her eye Piper noticed Nareema staring at her and before their eyes met Nareema looked away. Piper wondered what that was about.

Nareema landed T'Challa's plane on the tallest building in the city of Birnin Zana. Piper unwrapped herself from T'Challa's embrace, shook the nerves out of her arms and legs, did some quick ballet stretches, and stood proud and erect before the Dora Milaje.

Saluting she said, "Piper and Venom, reporting for duty Ma'ams."

Aneka smiled and Nareema nodded her head in approval.

"I don't think that's necessary, Piper," T'Challa started to say before Piper interrupted him.

"You asked for a bodyguard from S.H.I.E.L.D. and you're going to get it. I am here to serve and protect the King i.e. you. Capiche?" Piper stated as she squinted down her father.

Venom poked their head out and mh-hmed for emphasis.

T'Challa raised his hands up in defeat, "Alright, calm down. You're right. Let's go before the Elders and their leaders wait too long."

Nareema and Aneka strutted on each side of T'Challa, lagging one step behind him while Piper and Venom kept vigilant in the rear. Piper walked like how she practiced during drill training on the Helicarrier, with purpose and confidence. T'Challa walked them to an elevator to the floor right below the roof and pressed the 80th button on the 90-button panel. Then he took them down a corridor and entered a room had had no door. The room had three walls covered in glass that looked out into the horizon of Wakanda. The room was devoid of any material items except for a slab of rocky orange-brown dirt and on that dirt sat six stools. One was golden while the others were normal wooden stools. Sitting in the stools sat six old people and standing behind them stood their leaders. The Queen Mother, Ramonda, stood from the golden stool and embraced T'Challa as he walked on the dirt slab. Piper stood back with the Dora Milaje.

"Mtoto wangu ni jinsi gani?" She asked him.

"Jambo, Mama, mimi ni ajabu," T'Challa answered.

A large man in white furs started aggressively talking to T'Challa in Wakandan and he made many gestures towards Piper and the two men started to argue.

"I think we're being insulted," Venom thought to Piper.

"Maybe so, but it's not our concern," Piper thought back, "That man's M'Baku. He's from the Jabari Tribe and he has a history of trying to usurp T'Challa. The Elder is new though so maybe his story will be different."

"Well, I got my eye on him then," Venom thought.

M'Baku then was hit on the head with a cane by his Elder which brought Piper out of her conversation with Venom, "If you wish to insult this white woman, then you will do it in her language," the old woman sitting in front of M'Baku said.

M'Baku grunted as he rubbed his head. Then he strode up to Piper and got real close as a way to be intimidating. He was taller than T'Challa, so he towered over Piper more so than most people. Piper met his eyes without flinching as he breathed heavily into her face.

"What gives you the right to be here, outsider? You think you're better than our daughters and sisters? You think you're going to replace the Dora Milaje? Hasn't your kind done enough damage to our people?" M'Baku started shouted at her. He continued to shout at Piper until he had to catch his breath.

Piper looked to T'Challa for any kind of silent direction. T'Challa nodded at her as if giving her permission to speak her mind. Piper turned back to M'Baku.

"I don't know what you two were arguing about before," Piper then looked behind M'Baku, "What's your name Ma'am?"

"Folami," M'Baku's Elder answered.

Piper continued, "before Folami interrupted your dispute. What I am here for is to protect my King. That is the job I was hired for. That is all."

The room was silent as M'Baku continued to breath into her face. Then the room started to rumble, then shake, then the floors and ceilings started to crack and crumble, then everything collapse too fast for anyone to think.

# # #

When T'Challa came to his head hurt and he was being held in his mother's lap as his guards sat close by. The small room they were in was dark, except for the illumination by Nareema's and Aneka's uniform lights. When T'Challa sat up Ramonda embraced T'Challa and said how worried she was. As T'Challa held his mother he looked around the cramped room. All ten members from the meeting were alive and the leaders were caring for their elders. Someone was missing though and T'Challa couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Then it struck him like lightning, "Where's Piper! Where's my daughter!"

"Did someone say my name," Piper said in a strenuous voice.

T'Challa looked around and Aneka pointed to a little slit in the wall, it moved like a mouth as Piper's voice came out of it, "Did T'Challa wake up?"

T'Challa crawled over to the slit, "Piper? Are you okay?"

"Oh, thank the Heaven's, you're alive. No, I'm not okay. I've been holding this position for an hour now and I'm extremely sore," Piper said then she was silent for a while.

"Piper?" T'Challa repeated as he touched the wall. The wall was solid like rock, but it still felt like human skin and had the slight trembling of a heartbeat.

"Sorry, got to focus. I'll be fine. We're working on exit," Piper managed to spit out before she went silent again.

T'Challa patted the wall then went to sit before his guards and his mother, "What happened?"

Nareema answered, "The building collapsed on top of us. Many of us got hit by the falling rubble, but Piper and Venom managed to hold on to us and she helped protect us from the fall and the rest of the rubble."

"Do we know anything that is happening in the outside world," T'Challa asked.

"No, our radios are being blocked by all the rubble and possibly Piper herself," Aneka answered, "but Jina has a theory."

T'Challa turned around to face the mining tribe leader, "What's your theory Jina?"

"Wakanda is riddled with mining tunnels from the mining wars and the entrances of many of these tunnels were sealed, but someone could be down in the tunnels doing who knows what down there," Jina answered.

"Those tunnels are hundreds of years old. They could've just collapsed because of old age," Zahara, the River Tribe leader stated.

"Who would want to be down there anyways, they're stripped clean of vibranium," M'Kathu, the Border Tribe leader added.

The loud thump of a cane hitting concrete echoed through the small space. "Has your technology made you forget," Folami the Jabari Tribe Elder said.

Everybody except M'Baku looked at her in confusion.

Folami continued, "There is a legend that long ago, a foreign god came to the land of Wakanda to hide a piece of a magical artifact. Because of our mining war, the foreign god thought the tunnels were the best place to hide the magical artifact. To this day this piece of a magical artifact resides in the heart of Wakanda."

They felt the world around them rumble when Folami finished her story.

T'Challa asked, "Do you know what the artifact is?"

"My apologies, my King, the knowledge is either lost to us, or the foreign god never reveal what it was they were hiding," Folami answered.

"Everybody, we've found daylight," Piper announced, then asked, "Who's the widest person in this group?"

"I am," M'Baku said.

"Okay, now I have another question and I'll understand if it weirds you out, but I need to touch you so I can do a rough measurement. Do I have your permission?" Piper asked as a tentacle appeared out of the ceiling.

T'Challa watched as M'Baku sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Yes, you have my permission. Just be quick," M'Baku said as he grabbed hold of the tentacle.

Piper was quick as she measured M'Baku's shoulder width. Then she said, "All right, here we go."

An opening appeared beside M'Kathu and an involuntary scream escaped Piper and the fleshy walls trembled around them.

"What's wrong," T'Challa asked, panicking for his child.

Piper didn't answer for a minute then with a raggedy breath said, "Nothing's wrong. Just doing the old, heave ho. I think I've made enough room, who's leading? Venom will take you guys to the top."

"I'll go first," Aneka said as she crawled up to the tunnel.

"And I'll follow up the rear," Nareema stated.

A black tendril appeared before Aneka and the procession went as followed; Aneka, Ramonda, T'Challa, The two Border Tribe members, the Mining Tribe members, the Jabari Tribe members, the Merchant Tribe members, the River Tribe members, and finally Nareema.

As T'Challa and his mother crawled through the tunnel Piper and Venom made, T'Challa noticed five other tunnels that they passed.

In Swahili T'Challa said to his mother, "This isn't how I was hoping this day would turn out."

"No one was expecting this, my child," Ramonda said in Swahili, "I would love to hear what you would have done if this didn't happen."

"Well, the meeting would have ended by now and you, me, and Piper would have gone to eat at the restaurant Tree Time. Piper would have loved it," T'Challa said to his mother.

"You wanted me to have a good first impression of Piper," Ramonda said.

"I was worried, since we failed to have a child of our own and since I neglected to inform you that she is light skinned. It would have torn me up to see you not like my oldest daughter, especially since you love Lunella so much," T'Challa confessed.

"Oh, T'Challa," Ramonda said in a soothing, motherly voice, "You've chosen her as your daughter. I would never reject the people you love. I should also apologize. Since your father's death, I did hound you and Ororo to have children and I shouldn't have done that."

"Thank you, Mama," T'Challa said.

Up ahead, T'Challa could see natural sunlight in the distance and after five more minutes of climbing they made it out of the rubble. In the distance T'Challa could see that many more buildings were down because of the collapsed mining tunnels and government officials were already working on helping the citizens. More rumblings echoed through the earth. T'Challa helped the other tribe members out, then when Nareema crawled out, he was surprised that more people were coming out and most of them were severely injured. A total of fifteen people funneled out of Venom and Piper's tunnels and when the last person exited the tunnels, they collapsed upon themselves. After a couple of minutes, in goop form, Piper slithered out of the rubble and stood in her solid form before T'Challa.

The sight of Piper devastated him. Piper was covered in deep black and blue bruises, cuts covered everything else on her and she had two deep puncture wounds from something in the rubble on her right shoulder and in her abdomen.

Piper staggered to T'Challa while smiling, "Man, you have a huge goose egg on your head."

Then Piper looked like she was about to fall into a faint and T'Challa grabbed on to her.

"You need medical attention," T'Challa said.

Piper held on tight to T'Challa's dirty dress shirt as her knees buckled beneath her weight as she tried to fight the faint.

"What I need is to get back in there. There are probably more people in there who need help. I can get to them quickly," Piper said.

"You've done enough," T'Challa said as he hugged Piper, then picked her up bridal style, "Let the Disaster Relief Teams do their jobs. Just rest."

Piper looked like she was going to argue but the faint that she was fighting finally overtook her and she fell limp in T'Challa's arms. Venom appeared outside of Piper's body.

"If it helps to know, I'm already healing her major wounds as I speak," Venom said.

T'Challa nodded as he handed Piper over to Nareema, "It does, a little. Can you make sure she doesn't wake up? I'm worried that if she does, she's going to dive back into the rubble and hurt herself even worse than what she is now."

"That is something I can do," Venom said before disappearing inside Piper's body.

T'Challa then turned his attention to Nareema, "You stay here and take care of my family and call in one of the Medical Disaster Relief Teams. Make sure everyone's been treated."

Nareema nodded her head and started calling in reinforcements on her radio as she gave the unconscious Piper to Ramonda for her to lay in her lap.

T'Challa turned to Aneka, "I want you and your best members ready for a spelunking expedition into the old mining tunnels."

Aneka saluted T'Challa, "Consider it done," then she got on her radio and radioed the other Dora Milajes.

T'Challa then went up to Jina who was helping one of the injured, "Jina, old friend, I need your help. You know the tunnels better than anyone in your tribe. Will you lead us to the source of this catastrophe?

"I'll help you. I've been studying Seismology my whole life, and these are not normal earthquakes. Whoever is doing this, must be stopped," Jina stated.

M'Baku then entered the conversation, "I'm coming too. I will tear limb from limb who ever is doing this do our home."

T'Challa nodded in agreement and the earth trembled beneath their feet again.

# # #

Baron Mordo stood before a golden see-through force field, panting and sweating. Malice, Mordo's Wakandan guide, stood on the sidelines in the giant cave unbothered by his struggles.

"Are you done playing yet," She asked him as she polished her vibranium fingertip claws.

Baron Mordo yelled in frustration then started coughing from accidentally breathing in the dust, "Maybe I'd get through this magic shield faster if you'd help!"

Malice chuckled, "Oh, you didn't pay me enough for that."

Baron Mordo's eyebrow twitched as he stared Malice down while she didn't bother to look up at him. Then he slowly turned around and tried to tear down the magic shield again. He tried going through the shield by summoning a portal on the other side, it didn't work. He tried using every force of nature type magic that he knows on the shield, it didn't work. He tried throwing heavy rocks at it, it didn't work.

Baron Mordo growled and cursed to himself, then he turned around and asked, "What else do you want from me. I made that love potion for you, what else could you want?"

Malice looked up in a thoughtful manner, "I think learning how to make a love potion would be very useful to me in the future."

"Fine, I'll teach you how to make a the love potion I gave you," Mordo said in exasperation, "Just get over here, do you have any ideas of how to get thought this so I can get the staff of the Berserker staff?"

Malice walked over and sighed, "Okay, okay. No need to show your erection, hyena."

Baron Mordo was taken back by the phrase, "What."

Malice ignored him as she looked over the magic shield, "So you used every type of magic you could think of using on it?"

"Yes," Mordo replied angrily.

Malice then used her pointer finger and gently placed it on the shield and then she passed through it like it was a bubble. Then as Malice mockingly made a shocked face at Mordo while she slid through the magic shield. Baron Mordo watched in pure shock as Malice made coy kissy faces at him from the other side of the magic shield.

"What magic did you use," Mordo demanded.

"I didn't," Malice replied in a muffled voice, "Who ever made this magic force field was expecting the foreseeable intruder to think they needed to get past this with magic and force."

Baron Mordo face palmed as Malice walked away to grab the staff of the Berserker staff.

"Halt, In the name of Wakanda, you are under arrest for damages against public property," T'Challa shouted.

Mordo turned around to see that he was faced with a mob of miners, the Dora Milaje, a big man in a white gorilla suit, and in the front a man in a full body cat suit. They were surrounded in a strange orange light. Mordo noticed that the orange light was strengthening the ceiling somehow.

The light disappeared and the mob of people started running at him. Mordo sighed, then he gently walked backwards into the magic shield. Right in front of Mordo's face, T'Challa's clawed hand bounced off the surface of the magic shield as did all the forceful blows the mob threw at the magic shield. Mordo smiled smugly as he walked away to go get Malice. Baron Mordo walked into a long tunnel surrounded by the same magic shield that was protecting its entrance.

"Malice, we need to get out of here," Mordo called out.

Mordo exited the tunnel to enter a smaller cave than the one he previously was in. There was a strange purple mist in the air and Malice was laying on the floor. Mordo instantly whipped up a windstorm and pushed the mist to the ceiling. He went up to Malice to make sure she was still alive, and she was, but she was covered in bite marks. From the distance Baron Mordo could hear the mob of people coming after them again, then something bit him on the calf; looking down it was a sparkly looking purple snake that was obviously made of magic. Mordo zapped it with fire and as he stood up, the edge of his eyesight went purple and the world around him was wabbly and Malice turned into a giant pile of purple sparkly snakes as even more snakes fell from the ceiling.

"Magic poisoning," Baron Mordo thought to himself as he picked up the pile of snakes that was Malice.

The pile of snakes bit him as he hobbled towards the exit of the small cave, but they didn't register in his mind. Mordo zapped away the snakes that were falling from the mist above, but he was feeling his magical power draining away. As he reached the other side, his windstorm magic collapsed, and the mist fell behind them just as the mob of Wakandans made it down to the same chamber.

As Mordo dragged Malice, who still looked like a pile of snakes, through another long tunnel, she woke up. Then she started screaming and pushing Baron Mordo away. She kept screaming about Achebe but Mordo didn't really care, he just grabbed what he thought was her wrist, slung it over his shoulder and continued walking. Mordo knew by her reaction that she's never been magically poisoned before so it's hitting her harder than himself and if he tried to say anything to her, her auditory hallucinations would only make him sound like this Achebe guy. Behind him Baron Mordo could hear the mob catching up again and he hasn't made it to the next chamber yet.

"Do they know how to get through the traps or are they just quick puzzle solvers," Mordo thought to himself.

Finally, they made it to the staff's room, which was smaller than the previous cave they were in and there were hundreds of staffs in it. Mordo sighed in frustration as he let Malice fall to the floor.

"I can't tell if it's the poison that's making me see so many staffs or if someone literally made it like this," Mordo thought to himself, "I can't even detect its magic because of the poisoning."

Mordo frantically went through the staffs. He knew that the bottom of the Berserker staff head was broken in a certain way and he just had to find the opposite breaking point on top of the actual staff.

"You're cornered now, Baron Mordo," T'Challa said.

Mordo didn't stop looking as T'Challa grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him into a pile of staffs. Then a giant white gorilla came charging at him and was about to pummel him with his fists put Mordo managed to stop it using his magic shield that he produced. It didn't last long, but it was long enough for Mordo to move out of the way and continue searching. This continued for a minute or two as Mordo came closer and closer to being caught by the giant panther and his gorilla friend. Then Baron Mordo noticed that near the entrance, where he left Malice, there was a lone staff standing and it had the opposite breaking point on it from the Berserker head.

Mordo dived for the staff and made a sloppy portal out of his sling ring and threw the staff in and the portal disappeared. He then made a shield that barely deflected the panther's kick attack. The white gorilla then tackled him from the side and had him in a bear hug. Mordo was too weak to use any of his more powerful magics. Then the white gorilla let go of him as he screamed, Mordo saw that Malice, who still looked like a pile of snakes, was biting and scratching, the gorilla in the eyes. The panther came after him again, but Mordo managed to dodge him and kept him in the corner using another magic shield he made. Mordo then grabbed Malice off the gorilla, made them a portal and dived in before his sloppy magic could collapse upon itself.

Malice, Baron Mordo, and the staff were sprawled on the floor of his study. Mordo heard Malice start crying to herself and he grabbed the staff and held it to his chest.

"One more to go," Mordo thought to himself.


	20. Imprisonment: Wakanda Aftermath

            Piper found herself waking up from an uncomfortable nightmare. The room she was in was softly lit and was reminiscent of a hospital room but not one she’s ever been in. Piper turned on her side and curled into a fetal position; the so-called bed was some metal device with thin sheets and a pillow. Venom manifested a hand and held Piper’s right hand.

            “Piper, are you okay?” Venom thought to her.

            Piper squeezed Venom’s hand, “I’m just trying to forget a nightmare I had,” Piper thought.

            “Do you want to tell me about it?” Venom thought to ask.

            Piper hesitated as she thought about it, then taking a deep calming breath she said, “Yah.”

            She told Venom through their mental link that in her nightmare there were these two women who were enjoying a meal together, but one woman was obviously some kind of royalty and the other woman was a servant. Piper didn’t remember how the exchange between them went but Piper felt the fear of the servant woman. Then it cut to a room full of disassembled golden robot parts and in the middle was a red bed; both women from the previous scene were naked on the bed. The royal woman was holding the servant woman down and the servant woman was so bruised and tired looking as a golden robot was shoving its head into the servant girl’s vagina.

            “Then I woke up,” Piper thought to Venom, “She looked like she was in so much pain, but she kept struggling, but she shouldn’t have to of been in that kind of struggle to begin with. What is wrong with my brain.”

            Venom said nothing as it rubbed its thumb against the side of Piper’s hand; trying to think of the right thing to say.

            “Has this happened before?” Venom thought.

            Piper sighed then thought, “Yah, it’s just because I thought about _him_ is all when T’Challa asked about the crushes on boys thing.”

            “Him?” Venom thought.

            Piper turned on her other side, “I don’t want to talk about it.” Then she saw T’Challa and Ramonda sleeping on some waiting chairs. Ramonda reminded Piper a lot of her grandmother with the way her hair had tiny braids that were then braided together into one big braid and she was wearing a long white, billowy-looking dress like her grandmother use to like to wear, but that’s where the similarities stop. Ramonda obviously looked much younger than her grandmother and there was an air of regal-ness about her that not even sleep could diminish. T’Challa was leaning on Ramonda as they slept, and he looked dead tired; his sleeping face was furrowed with what Piper assumed was worry. He was wearing his Black Panther suit, but without the mask, and it was slightly dusty. On his left temple sat a mostly healed goose egg from when a falling rock bashed him in the head.

            Piper sat up quickly, “The earthquakes,” Piper thought to Venom, “Is everyone okay? Did anyone die? What’s the survivor/death ratio looking like?”

            Then Piper was reminded of something else and lifted her shirt to reveal a new puncture scar on her stomach and on her right shoulder, the bruises were still all over her body, but they looked like they were in the end stages of healing.

            “Hey, good job Venom,” Piper thought, “This is your fastest work… I think, how long was I out?”

            “Only for a day, but I had help,” Venom thought.

            A door leading out of the hospital room they were in slid open and a much brighter light flooded the room before the door closed and a woman could be seen. It was Shuri. Her black hair was shaved down to the point of giving her the illusion of being bald, she wore a bright yellow jumper suit and a white lab coat, and in her hand was a holo-clip board.

            When Shuri looked up from the holo-clip board she smiled at Piper and whispered, “Hello Piper, it’s good to officially meet you.”

            Piper scrambled to jump down from the metal bed to stand at attention before the Princess of Wakanda, but in the process she made herself sick as she collapsed to the floor.

            Shuri rushed over to Piper. “Whoa, careful,” she said quietly, “healing as quickly as you did is going to have some side effects. You need to sleep longer.”

            Piper did feel tired, but she said, “I don’t feel tired. I want to know what’s going on and walk around a bit and I have to pee.”

            Shuri gave Piper a small smile, “Alright, follow me.”

            Shuri helped Piper stand back up and Piper held on to Shuri’s arm for support. Shuri led Piper around what was soon revealed to be their palace. Many Dora Milaje’s patrolled the halls and they would acknowledge Shuri with greetings. The palace was very sleek and futuristic, more so than Stark Tower and the underground training facilities at the X-Mansion, but it still had a down to earth quality with statues of past Black Panther’s made from clay and wood, carved masked of the six different tribes with the Black Panther mask being the most prevalent, and hand woven rugs made by past queen’s depicting their unique histories.

            “This one, mother made,” Shuri pointed to a much plainer looking rug that was hanging between two sets of crossed spears.

            The rug was colored in earthy tones with the only bright color being yellow. The rug depicted a seed that bloomed out a baby girl who then grew up to have a kind of magical touch with growing plants. The girl grew up into a woman that was whisked away and turned into a Dora Milaje that used her plant knowledge for healing and for destruction.

            “Mother always did love her plants,” Shuri stated, “Are you doing okay?”

            “You should sit down,” Venom thought to her worried, “I’ve been helping you walk for an hour now and I don’t want to help you push yourself so hard anymore.”

            “I could sit down for a bit,” Piper told Shuri.

            Shuri led Piper to a very cushion-y room with a holo-graphic TV in the middle of a wall and to the left of it there was a big pane of glass that looked over the city of Birnin Zana. The horizon was missing a few tall buildings. Shuri helped sit Piper on one of the many cushions that lay on the floor then she sat down with her.

            “Okay, I can’t stand it anymore,” Piper said after a period of silence, “What’s going on out there? Is there anything more I can do to help? How many injured and how many dead have been found?”

            Shuri sighed, “It looks about as good as seeing vultures during a drought. Reports keep coming in and even with all our advanced technologies and techniques; the death toll is 200 out of 1,000 reported survivors. I’m worried that the death toll with jump to 400 or 600.”

            “Is there anything more I can do to help,” Piper asked.

            Shuri patted Piper’s knee, “You’ve done enough to let yourself heal completely, Piper. You don’t need to push yourself so hard. Besides, you managing to save the elders and leaders of every tribe was phenomenal, you’re in everyone’s good graces; more or less. Speaking of the other tribes I heard from T’Challa that M’Baku gave you a hard time.”

            “That’s the understatement of the year,” Piper said as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest, “But I don’t blame him. I don’t exactly look like I belong and Wakanda has done fine on its own in the past.”

            “We may have done fine on our own back then, but I’ve studied our history, and there were a lot of problems that we’ve faced that would have been a lot easier to solve if we had allies to help us. There is wisdom in seeking help and T’Challa understood that idea well,” Shuri stated, “As for you not looking like you belong, well, we, your family, think you belong, and I think you’ll make a great fellow Princess of Wakanda.”

            “Oh, God, don’t say that. I’m not fit for royalty,” Piper said as she hugged the pillow tighter.

            “Don’t get me wrong,” Shuri stated, “If you were to be Queen somehow, the political backlash would be awful and we still need to get you a citizenship here for you to officially be a Princess, but don’t worry about it now, you’re still dealing with your prison sentence in America, right?”

            Piper nodded.

            “Do you have any ideas of what you want to do when you get out of prison?” Shuri asked.

            “Live as normal of a life as I can; finish high school, maybe go to college, get a job, own my own apartment, have kids, and so on. I know having my mutant abilities means I need to help out the world in some compacity considering there are assholes who also have mutant abilities and want to use them for crimes and evil motives, but I can dream,” Piper answered.

            They were silent for a bit as they looked over the horizon through the window.

            “How much longer till you’re out?” Shuri asked.

            “I’m officially free in the month of May. I don’t know what day it’ll be though,” Piper stated.

            Shuri was about to say something but then they heard foot steeps running towards them and they all looked towards the entrance of the cushion-y room to see T’Challa slide into view.

            “Shuri, you asshole!” T’Challa shouted while breathing heavily, “I thought Piper got kidnapped or something equally awful.”

            Shuri playfully stuck her tongue out at T’Challa then said, “You should have been asleep in your room, brother, you didn’t need to be by her side the whole time.”

            “I’m her father! How can I not worry and not be by her side,” T’Challa ranted as he walked over to Piper and kneeled down beside her and placed a hand on her forehead, “Are you feeling any better?”

            “I’m just restless and tired at the same time,” Piper said with a small smile, “Thank for worrying about me.”

            “We should get you back to my healing room then,” Shuri stated, “It was nice being able to hang out with my oldest niece.”

            “It was nice hanging out with you too, Shuri,” Piper replied.

            “Ah-ah-ah, call me Aunt Shuri,” Shuri stated as she stood up.

            Piper shrugged and said, “Okay, Aunt Shuri.”

            Out of the corner of her eye, Piper thought she saw a flash of surprise on T’Challa’s face but when she looked at him, he was only smiling gently at her.

            “Can you stand up,” T’Challa asked.

            “Yah, I can stand up,” Piper said as she failed to stand up, “I said, yah, I can stand up.”

            Venom manifested outside of Piper’s body, “I’m not helping.”

            “Oh, come on Venom, don’t do me like that,” Piper pleaded.

            “Ask for their help,” Venom said pointing at Shuri and T’Challa.

            Piper sighed, “Please help me up, guys.”

            When Piper was properly propped up, she was arm in arm with both of her family members as she was escorted to the lab room that was her make-shift hospital room.

            “T’Challa, how long will Piper be staying in Wakanda?” Shuri asked.

            “I plan on sending her home as soon as she’s feeling better,” T’Challa answered.

            They were walking past the display of rugs again when Piper said, “NO! Not yet. I want to stay and help.”

            “I don’t want you getting hurt like that again,” T’Challa stated.

            “I get hurt all the time, like when I first got to New York, I got seriously burned from an explosion and you didn’t care then,” Piper said.

            They started walking past the statues of past Black Panthers when T’Challa said, “Of course I cared back then. You are a child who was critically burned, what heartless person wouldn’t care?

            “Well then, I’m sure you didn’t know about my frost bite,” Piper replied, not even sure what point she was trying to make anymore.

            “Ororo and I call each other almost every night. She told me everything about what Sam and his gang did to you and how you and Rouge almost got caught by Sentinels _and_ what you did to yourself trying to take down one of them when the Sentinels attacked the X-Mansion and so on. She cared, therefore, I cared and whether you like it or not we’re going to keep caring,” T’Challa said sternly.

            Piper felt a mixture of annoyance, nostalgia, and shy happiness. Pouting, Piper said, “I still want to help.”

            “Come on T’Challa,” Shuri said in a low whisper as they entered the make-shift hospital room with Ramonda still sleeping where T’Challa left her, “It’ll be good for both the Citizens of Wakanda and for Piper to interact with each other,” Shuri then asked Piper, “You’re what, fifteen years old?”

            “I’m nineteen Aunt Shuri,” Piper said deadpanned as she climbed onto the metal bed.

            “She’s a year away from becoming a legal adult, T’Challa,” Shuri stated as she helped Piper back onto the metal bed, “and she’s going to be out of prison soon too. You won’t be able to tell her what to do for much longer so you might as well support her.”

            “Shuri, the legal adult age is eighteen in America,” T’Challa stated, “I’m sure she already feels that way.”

            “Really, eighteen? But that’s so young, they’re still babies,” Shuri stated.

            Piper rolled her eyes as T’Challa said, “I know, America is weird that way.”

            “So are you going to let me stay longer to help or are you going to send me back. Please tell Fury to let me stay and help clean up,” Piper added.

            T’Challa sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and finger then he said, “Alright, I’ll call Fury and tell him I need more of your help.”

            “Really,” Piper said excitedly, forgetting to talk in a whisper.

            Ramonda stirred and started to wake up.

            “Yes, but only if you rest up and listen to what Shuri says you need for your health,” T’Challa said.

            “I can do that,” Piper said.

            “And I can make sure she does do that,” Venom inputted.

“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to call Ororo and get to work on some new paperwork,” T’Challa said, excusing himself.

            “Thanks for helping me persuade him,” Piper said to Shuri.

            “My pleasure,” Shuri said.

            “What did I miss,” Ramonda said, fully awake.

# # #

            The sun’s light pounded on Piper’s back as she shifted through the rubble carefully, as instructed by the leader of a Disaster Relief Team. Venom was poking their tendrils through the cracks of the rubble, looking for pockets of empty space and human bodies, making sure the shifting of the debris wouldn’t crush any one by accident.

            “Alright, Piper, come down here! We’re having lunch,” the Disaster Relief Leader shouted at Piper from the bottom of the rock mound.

            “Okay, I’ll be down in a second Ma’am,” Piper shouted back then she thought to Venom, “Feel anything?”

            “Nothing,” Venom thought back.

            Piper sighed then she produced her back tentacles and used them to help her walk down the deep slope. Then she walked over to the standing canopy that had three long tables filled with thirty or so people already eating bunny chow, a spicy curry within a hollowed out half-loaf of bread, and Piper was excited to eat it. She grabbed herself a plate and a glass of water and sat down between two adults that she has worked with before but hasn’t remembered their names yet. Then as soon as she took a bight out of the curry, Piper felt her face become flushed, she started sweating harder than she was out in the sun, her mouth hurt, and her nose and eyes were watering. Piper turned around to complement the people who made the dishes because of how much she was enjoying the food.

            “Are you sure you’re enjoying bunny chow, cause you look redder than you do when you’re under the sun,” the man on her left said.

            Instead of answering Piper took a huge bite of bunny chow and went mh-mh-mmmmmh in his face.

            The woman on her right laughed, “I think she likes it M’Boan.”

            He shrugged, “I don’t know what American food is like and I don’t want her to feel like she has to eat all the food she’s given here, Kesi.”

            “You idiot, she’s our king’s daughter, all she’d have to do is ask and he’d probably send her here with lunch from their palace,” she replied.

            As the two of them were arguing Piper felt someone tap her on her back. Turning around Piper saw it was the little boy, that she saved from the rubble, again and he was using only one crutch this time instead of two, so he was healing fast over the past two weeks. The little boy held an African Daisy and presented it to Piper. The little boy then said something in Wakandan.

            Piper didn’t understand what he said, but she said hello and thank you in Wakandan and took the flower and put it in her long braid. The little boy smiled brightly and hobbled away.

            “Awe, he’s got a crush on you,” Kesi said.

            “You think so,” Piper said genuinely as she continued eating, “I thought he was just being nice.”

            “I like to think that he is being nice, and he happens to have a crush on you too,” Kesi said.

            Piper finished her meal, slathered herself with a healthy amount of sunscreen, then started walking back to the mound she was working on. Before Piper could start working on the rubble mound a News Anchor lady and her Camera Woman walked up to her. The News Anchor lady said something in Wakandan that Piper didn’t understand. With her limited knowledge of the Wakandan language Piper asked the News Anchor lady if she knew English.

            “Yes, I know English. My name is Adimu and is it alright if we interview you for WHK,” she asked.

            Piper looked hard at Adimu. She was rocking a poof-y and shiny looking afro, her make-up looked perfect, her red earlobe gauges were big enough to fit a baby’s fist, and she was wearing a pretty red dress with patterns of elephants on it. Piper couldn’t help but wonder why Adimu would want to talk to her.

            “I don’t see why not,” Piper replied with a shrug.

            “Perfect,” Adimu said before she stared instructing the Camera Woman what kind of shot she wanted.

            Before the Camera Woman could start recording, Piper asked, “Why do you want an interview with me?”

            “You are the adopted daughter of T’Challa and Ororo,” Adimu said, “Wakanda has to know what kind of a person they’re going to have to deal with in the future. Especially since you look like, well, you.”

            “What’s wrong with the way we look,” Venom thought to Piper.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Piper thought to Venom, feeling the Symbiote’s annoyance, “It’s too complicated to explain right now.”

            The Camera Woman signaled to Adimu that she was recording and Adimu started rapidly talking in Wakandan. Piper stood next to her as she fiddled with her long braid then Adimu turned towards Piper and started asking her questions.

            “Were you there when The Citadel building collapsed on our leaders and elders of Wakanda,” Adimu asked.

            “I was Ma’am,” Piper said politely.

            “What business did you have, being at the Citadel,” Adimu questioned further.

            “I was there as a symbol of trust between Wakanda and The United States, more or less, as a bodyguard for hire,” Piper replied.

            “Does that mean that our king doesn’t trust the Dora Milaje anymore,” Adimu asked.

            Piper was disappointed that this question keeps coming up, “No, T’Challa _does_ trust the Dora Milaje. He’s just trying to reach out to other people, you know, getting the Wakandan people use to more outsiders. I heard you guys are really against the whole tourism thing.”

            “Is it true that you are a criminal,” Adimu asked.

            Piper nodded, “That is correct Ma’am, soon I’ll have served my sentence and I’ll be a free woman in a few months. That’s a part of my sentence, to perform community service.”

            Adimu nodded her head and mh-hmed at Piper. “Do you ever think you’ll become Queen of Wakanda?”

            Piper laughed, “God no, since I look white and I’m an outsider, I doubt anyone would be happy with that. Plus, I doubt I’ll be able to survive eating the heart shaped herb that gives my father his powers.”

            “What are you planning to do here in Wakanda then,” Adimu said.

            “Well,” Piper said cautiously, “I will help in any way that I can, and I want the people of Wakanda to know that I care about them even if some of them don’t care about me. Is it okay if I go now? I really need to get back to work.”

            “Of course,” Adimu said then she started talking to the camera in Wakandan as Piper walked away.

# # #

            Piper made it back to the Black Panther Palace in the evening, and the world was starting to taper off the day’s heat with the evening cold. When Piper walked inside, she was greeted by Nareema.

            “Hi, Nareema. How was your day?” Piper asked as they stood in the grand hallway entrance.

            “It was fine Piper,” Nareema replied, “How goes the disaster relief?”

            “We haven’t found any new people, dead or alive, but the clean up crews have finally reached the area we’ve been working on so that’s good,” Piper said.

            “Glad to hear,” Nareema replied,” Also your mother and sister have made it to the Palace.”

            Piper brightened at the news, “Where are they?”

            “Last time I saw them they were in the living room,” Nareema replied.

            Piper cheered and ran off, yelling to Nareema, “Thank you, have a nice night!”

            Piper ran to the first living room she thought they would be in. They weren’t in the smallest living room, so Piper ran to the big, expensive looking living room and found Ramonda and Ms. Munroe talking and with Lunella standing to the side looking bored.

            “Lunella!” Piper greeted.

            Lunella looked up and her face brightened. The two sisters ran to each other and Piper lifted Lunella up and spun her around in the air.

            “Look at you. You get bigger every time I see you. What’s Mom feeding you?” Piper complemented Lunella as her sister giggled.

            “Don’t I get a hug,” Ms. Munroe asked.

            “Of course,” Piper said as she walked up to Ms. Munroe and gave her a hug and got a kiss on the head in return, “Welcome back to the Palace, Mom.”

            “Thank you… did you just call me Mom?” Ms. Munroe asked.

            “…Yeeees?” Piper replied as she looked her mother in the eye.

            Ms. Munroe had tears dripping from her eyes as a big smile plastered her face, then Piper was pulled into a big hug with Lunella in the middle of it.

            “Mom, you’re making it weird and you’re squishing Lunella,” Piper’s muffled voice said.

            “I’m just so happy you feel comfortable calling me Mom, now,” Ms. Munroe sniffled as she rocked side to side with Piper and Lunella in her grasp. Eventually Ms. Munroe let go of her kids and started wiping away her tears.

            “When do you think you’ll start calling me Grandma,” Ramonda asked Piper.

            Piper shrugged indifferently, “I don’t know.”

            Ramonda frowned sadly and Piper looked away not knowing how to bounce back from this awkward conversation. Lunella started pulling Piper away.

            “Oh, uh, bye guys. Me and Lunella are going to explore the Palace,” Piper said as Lunella dragged her away.

            As Piper and Lunella walked away Piper could hear Ms. Munroe consoling Ramonda. Lunella dragged Piper around until she seemed satisfied with where they were. It was just another hallway filled with historical paraphernalia.

            “So, what’s so special about this place?” Piper asked.

            Lunella just shrugged then she gently stroked Piper’s leg in an understanding kind of way.

            “Oh, I see, you were helpin’ a sister out,” Piper then leaned forward, “High-five.”

            The two sisters high-fived each other as they smiled at each other.

            “You think they have a library here,” Piper asked aloud.

            Venom manifested outside of Piper’s body, “Yah, the Palace has a library.”

            “Can you show us where it is?” Piper asked, seeing the gleeful look on Lunella’s face.

            “Keep going down this hallway and make a left on the first intersection,” Venom replied.

            As Venom was leading them forward, they ran into Aneka who looked like she was looking for them everywhere.

            Aneka got on her radio and said, “Found them,” Then she said, “Piper, you need to see this.”

            Lunella, Venom, and Piper all looked at each other in confusion. Then Piper manifested her back tentacles and had Lunella hold on to her legs so they could follow Aneka quickly without getting winded. Aneka swiftly led the three of them to T’Challa’s office. T’Challa, Shuri, Ramonda, Ms. Munroe, and Dr. Strange were all there, staring at the holo-TV as that Anchor lady, Adimu, was talking next to a picture of Piper at the disaster sights that after noon. Piper read the English subtitles below.

            _“The eldest adopted daughter of King T’Challa and Queen Ororo admits to being at the Citadel on the day of the fatal incident. It is also reveled that she is a mutant crimina. With her mutant powers she’s most likely the culprit who made these abnormal earthquakes happen. She watch as she admits her guilt.”_ Then they rolled the clip of Piper explaining her incarceration situation. _“What where the King and Queen of Wakanda thinking? More after the weather.”_

            T’Challa muted the holo-TV, “I’m so sorry, Piper, I should have told you about Adimu and Wakanda Habari Kila wiki.”

            “That news channel has been around when I was a child,” Ramonda stated, “and I don’t remember them ever spewing out so much hate before.”

            “They favor the old isolationist ways, right,” Dr. Strange said, “It makes since that they would react negatively to all the changes you made over the past twenty years.”

            Lunella patted Piper’s hip in condolence.

            “Eh, it’s not that important,” Piper said waving it off, “Did you find out what Baron Mordo got out of those tunnels?”

            Dr. Strange did some quick hand movements and muttered something under his breath and a dusty, golden image appeared in the middle of the room, “Based on the story Folami told T’Challa, I’ve managed to find other stories of gods hiding valuables in nooks and crannies around the world.” The golden images depicted different gods from Norse, Native American, Greek, and Indian mythologies as he talked. “And you said it was a wooden staff that was in the hidden tunnels?”

            T’Challa nodded.

            “With that knowledge, I’ve only managed to find one myth about staffs, and it was in Transylvania, about a foreign god needing to find a hiding place for a head of a staff to keep humanity and their godly home safe.”

            “We know a god,” Ms. Munroe said, “We’ll just ask Thor if he’s heard of anything like that.”

            “Or we could ask Odin,” Piper interjected, “He’s all knowing and likes to gather information, he’s a better candidate for this kind of thing.”

            “Okay,” T’Challa said as he was getting out his Avenger card, “Sounds like a plan, I’ll just call Thor up and ask if he’ll set up a meeting—”

            Piper started yelling, “Yo, Heimdall, if Odin’s not busy, could you send him our way for a meeting! We have an urgent matter that his knowledge might help with!”

            Ramonda stared at her granddaughter and whispered, “Why?”

            “What?” Piper said defensively as everyone stared at her, “Heimdall’s a busy man, he can see and hear everything, but he can get a little engrossed in some things. Got to make sure he’s paying attention.”

            T’Challa’s Avenger card started ringing in his hand and when he answered it, it was Thor.

            “I got a message form Heimdall saying that you can expect my father in Wakanda tomorrow morning,” Thor said happily. Then he asked, “How did you managed to contact Heimdall?”

            “Piper specifically yelled at him,” T’Challa answered.

            Thor laughed heartily, “Fantastic! With all your technology, T’Challa, I thought for sure you managed to make some new machine that can send messages through space and time.” Then with even more laughter Thor hang up.

            “I think he was laughing at the simplicity of the matter,” Piper said after a moment of silence.

            “I take no offence,” T’Challa replied, then he turned to Dr. Strange, “Will you be staying the night, Doctor?”

            Dr. Strange shook his head, “No, I’ll come back to meet up with you and Odin tomorrow. Have a good night.” Dr. Strang then made a portal and walked into his home and as the portal closed the golden images, he made, disappeared.

            “With that out of the way,” Ramonda stated, “I think we should do something about keeping Piper safe?”

            “What? Because of the mean news castor lady?” Piper scoffed, “Please, what are the people going to do, riot at our workplace?”

# # #

            A riot was taking place at the disaster relief area Piper and Venom have been working on for over two weeks now. Policemen were trying to keep the rioters at bay for their safety and for the safety of the disaster relief teams. Nareema stood by Piper as her permanent bodyguard. Piper glared into the bright blue sky, hoping that her death glare was affecting the person who was writing this blasphemy joke that is her life.

            “Are you okay,” Nareema asked.

            “We’re perfect,” Piper sighed. Then Piper did some ballet stretches and said, “Welp, back to work. Are you going stand from afar or are you going to join in?”

            “I’m going to get information from the police chief and check out exit strategies if things get complicated,” Nareema replied.

            Piper gave Nareema a thumbs up as the two women walked away from each other. Piper and Venom walked up to her Disaster Relief Team and to the leader.

            “So boss, what do you need of me today? Do you want us to go back to shifting through the rubble?” Piper asked the Disaster Relief Team Leader.

            The leader lady looked over the angry crowd then back to Piper, “Should you even be here? Would it not be safer if you stayed home until everyone calmed down enough?”

            Piper shrugged, “We don’t know Ma’am. With our life, nothing is truly safe, and I don’t think hiding would help.”

            The Disaster Relief Leader sighed, “I suppose your right. During the night we found some more injured. Can you take the new medical supplies that we were recently given and spread them out to our on-sight doctors and nurses?”

            Piper saluted, “Yes Ma’am.” Then went off to work.

            Venom and Piper continued to work through out the blistering day doing what they can despite the yelling from the angry mob. When they had a break, Piper tried to give the policemen and some of the mob members some water. The policemen were thankful, but the mob members tried throwing their glasses at Piper and Venom, but Nareema was close enough to spear them and keep the cups from hitting Piper.

            Nareema pulled Piper aside. “Look, I know you’re trying to show that you’re a good person, but you should really stay away from them,” Nareema said as she pulled the plastic cups off her spear.

            “It’s just so hot out and we’re worried everyone’s going to get heat stroke out here,” Piper stated.

            “I’m not worried,” Venom said, manifesting outside of Piper’s body, “They can die from their anger for all I care.”

            “Venom,” Piper scolded.

            “What? They’re mean to you,” it replied.

            Some of the crowd was starting to mutter with fear and the three of them turned to see that they were pointing at Venom and video taping them with their phones.

            “That’s not good,” Nareema stated as she guided Piper behind her.

            Nervously Piper said, “Venom, I think you should get back inside.”

            Venom balked at the suggestion, “What? You’ve never told me to hide before, why now of all things?”

            Venom then turned to stare down the mob as Piper replied, “It’s not safe, not like this. Please.”

            The way Piper said please made Venom twinge with a little bit of guilt, cause it wasn’t their safety she was worried about, it was the crowds. Venom melted back into Piper and the symbiote thought to Piper, “I hate this place. When can we go home?”

            “I don’t know,” Piper thought back as Nareema guided them a safe distance away from the crowd.


	21. Fresh Start: Lunella Talks

            Lunella Lafayette listened to the sound of someone cooking breakfast in her New York home’s kitchen. Groggily, Lunella got out of bed and got ready for the day. As she walked down the stairs Lunella saw that it was Miss Doreen Green cooking breakfast. Miss Green’s squirrel tale twitched side to side as she was cooking the pancakes Lunella was smelling. The floorboards creaked under foot and Miss Green turned around.

            “Oh, Lunella, good morning,” Miss Green greeted, “You hungry?”

            Lunella shook her head.

            “Well, that’s fine dear,” Miss Green stated as she sat a jug of milk and orange juice on the kitchen counter in front of the kitchen sink.

            Lunella climbed up the counter stool and Miss Green sat a small glass in front of her.

            “You’re Mom went to pick up your sister from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and your Dad went to get some last-minute supplies for the party,” Miss Green informed Lunella.

            Any residual fatigue that Lunella felt faded away as she remembered that her big sister was finally free. Just in time too with school being out now for the summer. Lunella poured herself a glass of orange juice and thought about all the things she was going to do with Piper. Going to science fairs, science history museums, watch cartoons together, teach Piper how to build a computer, and maybe Piper will let her study that alien that’s living inside her. Lunella chugged her orange juice and ran back upstairs to finish making her present that she invented.

            “I’ll bring you up a plate of pancakes when they’re done,” Miss Green shouted after Lunella.

            Lunella pulled out from under her bed a portable super computer that she had invented and dubbed Tha Luna-Comput-A, along with her tools. She turned it on to make sure the AI was properly functioning.

            “Hello, I am Luna-Comput-A, how can I help?” Luna the computer stated.

            Lunella typed in a complicated Atbash code for Luna to solve. The AI deciphered the code within ten minutes, saying, “I miss my old family sometimes.”

            Lunella was disappointed. The super computer was suppose to decipher her code within five to three minutes. Lunella remembered how precious time was during the vampire incident, and considering her sister is more brawns than brain, Piper will need all the time and help she can get.

            As Lunella tinkered away Miss Green walked into her room and sat the plate of pancakes and a small bottle of syrup on her work bench. Then Miss Green sat beside Lunella on the floor.

            “You’ve been working on this for months now, is it almost done,” Miss Green asked.

            “I feel like I am as perfect as an AI can be,” Luna-Comput-A stated.

            “I don’t know why, but there’s something creepy about you,” Miss Green told Luna.

            “I am not trying to be creepy, I just happen to sound this way,” Luna-Comput-A replied in a close recreation of sorrow.

            “I’m sorry Luna, I guess I’m just use to the way J.A.R.V.I.S. talks,” Miss Green told the mini super computer.

            Luna-Comput-A was interrupted by Lunella typing in another code for the AI to solve. Within seven minutes Luna said, “Beware of the giant red lizard.”

            Miss Green stood up and said, “Well, don’t let your pancakes get cold or they won’t taste as good.” Then she left to clean up downstairs.

# # #

            Lunella had been tinkering on her mini super computer for a couple of hours now and she finally felt hungry enough to eat. When she started eating the pancakes there was regret as the food tasted like soggy, slightly sweet, cardboard. As she forced herself to eat the food Lunella decided to invent a food refreshing ray, or something like that, and she placed the idea on her mental list of things to invent.

            Downstairs, Lunella heard the doorbell ring, thinking it’s her father who needs help carrying in groceries or whatever. So, with plate of pancakes in hand and still eating, Lunella went to open the front door but was stopped by Miss Green.

            “Don’t just go opening the front door, Lunella, who knows who that could be,” Miss Green stated then pushed Lunella back using her prehensile squirrel tail.

            When Miss Green opened the door she said, “Sam! Good to see you. You’re a bit early for the party,” Miss Green said as she stepped back and let in the blond, young adult man.

            “Hey, Doreen, yah, I just wanted to get here before it got too crowded and so I could have more time to talk with Piper,” Sam said as Miss Green closed the door behind him.

            Sam noticed Lunella and crouched down to meet her eye to eye, “Hey Lunella, been awhile since I baby sat you. Still don’t talk?”

            Lunella looked away as flashes of strange ape looking people rampaged her old home with a giant red lizard. Lunella continued to eat her cold pancakes.

            Sam stood back up, “I remember how much Piper valued her alone time and I know she’ll be tired of this party long before anyone else.”

            The two adults walked to the living room as Miss Green said, “Then I’m sure she’ll be excited to have her own room again. Personally, I’m excited to meet her, T’Challa and Ororo talk about Piper like she’s a newborn baby.”

Lunella followed behind.

“Oh, I know, it’s how Ms. Munroe talks about Lunella at the Mansion too,” Sam said, “I’m sure they’ll calm down eventually.”

But Lunella knew that they were never going to calm down. It takes them five minutes each, for them to hug and kiss her goodbye before every school day.

“Well you’re welcome to sit and watch TV while you wait, I’m helping Ororo make food for the party and I got a text recently from Ororo and T’Challa that they’ll be home soon,” Miss Green stated as they stood in the middle of the living room.

“Is it okay if I help you cook, instead?” Sam asked.

“Of course,” Miss Green accepted.

Lunella then wordlessly handed the empty plate to Miss Green and sped back up to her room to perfect Luna-Comput-A some more.

# # #

            As Lunella was making the super computer easier to understand and to use she heard the door slam open and someone singing. They sounded awful and were loud, in Lunella’s opinion.

            _“Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew / When I bit off more than I could chew!”_

            Lunella slid the mini super computer underneath her bed again, still not having it finished and went down stairs to see who it was. At the front door Lunella saw that it was Piper who was slowly twirling around as she continued to sing. Lunella thought how nice it was to see Piper in a normal t-shirt and jeans.

            _“But through it all, when there was doubt / I ate it up and spit it out!”_

            Piper saw Lunella and ran to her and started spinning her around with her as Venom popped out of Piper to sing with her.

            _“I faced it all and I stood tall / And did it my way!”_

            Lunella hugged Piper as she giggled whenever Piper dipped her. Lunella noticed her mother closing the door behind them as she held some bags in her hands.

            Piper and Venom continued to sing, _“I've loved, I've laughed and cried / I've had my fill my share of losing!”_

            Then they stopped singing when Piper and Venom noticed Miss Green and Sam in the kitchen when they entered the living room. Piper took out her headphones.

            “Hey, you’re Squirrel Girl… Sam, is that you?” Piper said as she put down Lunella.

            Lunella watched as Piper went over to Sam to give him a hug.

            “Dude, it’s so good to see you again. You look different,” Piper said as she stretched up to ruffle his long blond hair.

            “So do you,” Sam said, “You look super chiseled and tan for a ten year old.”

            Piper fake laughed then “gently” punched him in the gut, “You’re hilarious, man.”

            Through a groan and doubled over, Sam said, “Okay, I deserved that.”

            Ms. Munroe went up to Lunella and kissed her on top of her head while Piper and Venom introduced themselves to Miss Green.

            “Heard you spent five months in Wakanda doing Disaster Relief work, how did that go,” Miss Green asked.

            “The work itself was fine, it was the people who weren’t fine with us,” Piper replied as she rubbed the back of her neck.

            “I never want to go their again,” Venom fumed.

            Piper sighed, “Well, I mean, it wasn’t all of Wakanda that was mean to us. We only had to deal with a mob at our work sight every other month.”

            “That sounds hard,” Miss Green stated.

            “It was,” Venom said.

            Piper just shrugged.

            The front door opened again and T’Challa could be heard from the front door, “I need a little help, please.”

            Piper started to go help but Ms. Munroe stopped her, “How about you go take your new clothes to your room, Piper.” Ms. Munroe then placed the bags she was holding into Piper’s hands.

            “We have a room,” Piper asked, sounding surprised.

            “Well, we certainly weren’t going to have you sleep on the living room couch,” Ms. Munroe said, sounding a little offended by her daughter’s reaction, “Doreen, could you go show her where it is?”

            “Of course,” Miss Green stated as she led Piper and Venom up the stairs.

            Ms. Munroe, Sam, and Lunella went to T’Challa to help him unload his car.

            After the third and final trip to and from the car Sam said, “Yeesh, T’Challa, are we inviting all of the Hulks too?”

            “One and a half,” T’Challa answered, “Rick and Bruce are coming over and I’m hoping people will take the leftovers.”

            Piper walked down the stairs as everyone placed the groceries on the kitchen floor or counters. Miss Green was stirring something in a pot that smelled spicy.

            “Are we having a party,” Piper asked.

            Lunella nodded her head.

            Sam said, “Yah.”

            “What’s the occasion,” Piper asked.

            T’Challa went over to Piper and gave her a hug, “You’re the occasion. We’re celebrating your release.”

            “We thought we were just going to eat out, we didn’t think you’d actually prepare a party,” Piper replied.

            T’Challa pulled back from the hug, “Yes, well, we can do that any time, now that you’re out of the prison and Ororo and I thought it would be nice for you to see everyone again.”

            “… Well it has been awhile, but I doubt everyone has changed as drastically as Stupid-Hair-MacGee over there.”

            While Piper was chuckling, Sam picked up a paper towel roll and used his jet propulsion powers to super throw it into Piper’s face. It exploded on contact and Piper was coughing and wheezing when she said, still chuckling, “Okay, we deserved that.”

# # #

            Lunella tested her mini super computer again, entering a transposition cypher. Luna managed to decode the sypher in three minutes saying, “I love you.” Finally, Lunella was satisfied with her work. Thank goodness too, cause the food fumes were starting to give her a headache when she was working. She opened her two bedroom windows, found a shoe box she could use as a present wrap, then walked downstairs with computer filled shoe box in hand to give to Piper. Piper was sitting on the living room couch watching a discovery channel episode with Sam. T’Challa, Ororo, and Miss Green were in the kitchen finishing the last of the food they needed to cook. On every available surface Lunella could see food; she saw some food she ate in Wakanda, normal BBQ foods you see in America, and one weird dish that Piper requested and made herself, saying an alien friend taught her the recipe.

            Lunella was in the process of walking up to Piper to give her, her present when the doorbell rang.

            “I’ll get it!” yelled both Sam and Piper.

            “No running,” Ms. Munroe said as the two of them started to rush off.

            Piper and Sam speed walked to the front door, pushing each other and trying to hold each other back. Eventually it was Venom who opened the door.

            “Hey, no fair,” Sam said.

            Venom replied by sticking its tongue out at him.

            Standing outside the door was Ms. Pepper Potts, Mr. Tony Stark, and a black girl Lunella’s never seen with them before.

            “Tony! Pepper,” Piper cheered as she went to give them a hug.

            “I see you’re already rough housing,” Tony stated as he patted Piper on the back.

            “It’s good to see you again,” Ms. Potts said, “We rarely see each other.”

            The new girl walked up to Piper and extended her hand to shake, “Hi, I’m Riri Williams and I work as Mr. Stark’s protégé.”

            Piper shook her hand, “Nice to meet you.”

            Sam leaned on Piper in what Lunella assumed was in a suave way and he said, “The name’s Sam, Samuel Guthrie, and you’re a diamond in the rough that I would love to get to know.”

            “Mmm, no thank you,” Riri said instantly.

            There was a silent pause from Sam then he said, “That’s cool, but I’d like to still get to know you if that’s okay? And not in a romantic way, of course.”

            “Sure,” Riri said shrugging.

            Piper led the three of them to the living room and Sam closed the door behind them. Now was the time for Lunella to give her, her present. Lunella went up to Piper and pulled on her jeans.

            Piper looked down at her sister, “What’ch’ya got there?”

            Lunella raised the shoe box up to Piper.

            “For me?” Piper said as she took the shoe box out of Lunella’s grip.

            Piper was about to open it when the doorbell rang again. Lunella internally screamed as her father asked Piper to go open the door and Piper handed Lunella back her gift.

            “Hold on to this will you, I’ll be right back,” Piper said.

            Lunella didn’t follow Piper to go see who it was at the door. Instead she gently, but still angrily, placed the shoe box on the floor and went to get a bowl of coolranch chips. From the doorway Lunella could hear Piper squeal the name Rick and the sound of stone cracking. Bruce was already inside.

            “Sorry, your stoop has a giant crack in it now,” Bruce announced to her Mom and Dad.

            T’Challa sighed, “Don’t worry about it as long as it’s not completely destroyed.”

            Piper walked in with a giant blue man half crouch walking into the living room before fully standing up. “Sorry about the stairs, Mom and Dad,” Piper said.

            “It’s okay,” Ms. Munroe said, “You just got excited.”

            “Not that I’m complaining Piper,” Rick said, then asked, “But why do you always jump me every time we see each other?”

            “Well, we’re both super strong people and I always have to be super careful with almost everything, except for the hulk people, i.e. you,” Piper said. Then she added, “Plus in case you haven’t noticed man, I am perfectly at dick height to you and if I were to hug you normally, say, I lay my head on your hip, my face would still be too close to your dick and butt for my own comfort.”

            Rick covered his mouth with his hand and turned away from Piper as the other guests and family members laughed uncomfortable. Then there was the sound of crushing metal and cardboard and Lunella’s heart rate skyrocketed. Rick lifted his foot to reveal the crushed shoe box that contained Piper’s present.

            “What did I step on,” Rick said cautiously.

            Lunella rushed over to the crushed box and opened it to see that Luna-Comput-A was flattened.

            “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Rick said.

            Lunella didn’t want to hear it and threw the broken beyond repair machine at Rick. Rick clumsily managed to catch it as it harmlessly bounced off his chest.

            “Lunella!” T’Challa chided.

            Lunella glared at her parents and at everyone else until they all became blurry and her nose started to run. Lunella then raced upstairs as Piper tried to verbally stop her.

# # #

            Lunella stayed in her room until it got dark and the roar of a large crowd and music from downstairs was becoming overbearing. Someone knocked on her door, but she ignored it, instead staying next to the open windows. Whoever was at her door though decided to come in anyway, Lunella was prepared to stare down her family members, but she wasn’t ready to see two random girls around her age come into her room.

            The first girl was another black girl with her hair braided into cornrows and was wearing a pretty pink dress. The other girl that was behind the first one was a Hispanic girl with long black hair, wearing a baseball cap backwards and wearing overalls and a green t-shirt.

            The first girl waved at Lunella saying, “Hi, I’m Eleanor and this is my friend Laura.”

            Laura said, “Sup,” in a disinterested way.

            “Piper told us about you, and we wanted to know if you wanted to play with us,” Eleanor asked.

            Lunella frowned at them then turned back to looking out the window.

            “Oh, okay the- Don’t!” Eleanor yelled.

            Before Lunella could see what was going on she felt someone pull at her hair and drag her to the ground.

            “I don’t care if you’re upset,” Laura said in a heavy Spanish accent, “You don’t treat my friend that way.”

            Growling, Lunella got out of Laura’s grip, losing a few hairs in the struggle, and managed to crawl to a secret panel that she built into her bedroom wall. The panel held all of her weaponized inventions. She managed to grab ahold of a gadget that looked like a normal boxing glove, before Laura started dragging her back by her feet.

            “I said stop it, Laura,” Eleanor shouted while trying to hold Laura back.

            With Laura still grabbing her feet, Lunella blindly aimed and pressed a button inside the boxing glove and it rapidly extended and connected with someone’s face, making a cracking sound. Laura let go of Lunella and Lunella saw blood slowly trickling down Eleanor’s lips. The three girls were silent, then Eleanor started to bawl. Both girls frantically looked to each other then back to Eleanor. Laura went to her friend and was hugging her and patting her back. Lunella was looking through her supplies, trying to find a relatively clean rag, when she found it, she gave it to Eleanor to put under her nose.

            Crying, Eleanor said, “Will you to promise not to fight each other anymore.”

            Laura said, “Lo prometo, lo prometo!”

            Lunella nodded her head vigorously.

            “Good,” Eleanor said in a deadpan tone. Then she got out of Laura’s hug and wiped away her tears and blood away. She didn’t look injured anymore, especially with the blood gone.

            Lunella figured out quickly that they were both manipulated. Lunella looked to Laura, she looked pouty and refused to look at her. It was evident to Lunella that Eleanor has used this tactic on Laura before.

            “So, did you make that yourself,” Eleanor asked as she handed back the bloody rag.

            Lunella nodded her head as the boxing glove had fully retracted into place.

            “That is so cool!” Eleanor said, “Isn’t that cool Laura.”

            Laura sighed, “It’s cool…”

            “What else did you make?” Eleanor asked.

            Lunella squinted at Eleanor’s act, not sure what game she was playing at. Cautiously, Lunella got out two items from her storage, a ball-point pen and a necklace. Lunella showed Eleanor that the ball-point pen was a miniature welder and the necklace was a hidden space helmet, at this, even Laura was impressed.

            “Can I see that?” Laura asked extending her hand towards the pen.

            Lunella tossed it to Laura and she proceeded to write on her metal work bench with the mini-welder, throwing caution to the wind with her eye sight.

            The door to her room opened even further and turned on Lunella’s bedroom lights, standing in the doorway was Piper holding a plate of cucumber sandwiches.

            “Hey, Lunella, we hope you’re—”

            Then her face shifted to looked like a mask of Venom’s face and both voices shouted at them.

            “Get away from them!”

            Lunella was confused until she felt something slime-y/not slime-y grab on to her feet and all three of them were pulled out through the open windows.

# # #

            It was dark and not dark at the same time, an experience that’s like dreaming but she knew she wasn’t asleep. In the distance she saw Laura. She ran to her as fast as she could, making no sound, but gaining ground. Laura eventually turned around and met Lunella halfway.

            “Have you seen Eleanor?” Laura asked.

            Lunella shook her head.

            “I feel her, but I can’t see her,” Laura said.

            “Laura!” Eleanor shouted.

            Both girls turned around and there was Eleanor, just a few feet away. Laura and Eleanor crashed into each other’s hugs.

            “I can feel you holding my hand,” Eleanor said even though Lunella could clearly see them not holding hands.

            “I feel it too,” Laura declared, “and I feel like I’m still holding that pen too.”

            When Laura said that, Lunella could feel the necklace she had in her hand despite it not being in her hand. Lunella couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

            “I found someone else here,” Eleanor said.

            Then she turned around and pointed to an unconscious guy laying on the not so solid/solid grayish black ground. It was a shirtless man with skin that was bleach white and black circles on the eyes, very much like a human panda. Laura stepped in front of Eleanor, two metal claws extended from each of her hands, and she was growling at the unconscious man.

            “What is he doing here, he should be dead,” Laura stated.

            Eleanor held Laura from behind, “I don’t know, but he hasn’t moved since I found him.”

            Laura relaxed but her claws were still out.

            “We need to get out of here,” Laura said.

            “How though, we don’t even know where we are?” Eleanor replied.

            Lunella then remembered something.

            “We’re… in a symbiote,” Lunella said aloud.

            “How do you know,” Eleanor asked.

            “Piper told me. This is close to what she told me about her experience, bonding with Venom,” Lunella said.

            The world around them shook and rippled.

            “Well, we’re getting out of here,” Laura said then she started looking at her right hand hard, then she closed her eyes.

            For a couple of seconds her body flickered as her hand closed around the imaginary shape of a pin, then clicked it. The world around them rippled and they all heard shrieking. Then Laura flickered out of existence then came back within a second.

            “Stop it!” a deep voice shouted at them.

            “They’re coming for us,” Laura said excitedly, “We’ve got to slow this thing down.”

            “My turn then,” Lunella stated as she focused on the missing necklace in her hand.

            She focused on nothing but the necklace in her hand. Lunella could feel her other hand touch it and she managed to get it around her neck. Then she found herself streaming through the air, on top of New York roof tops. Ice was cackling in the air as the symbiote dodged large ice blocks. In the dark gray matter surrounding her, Lunella noticed her boxing glove sticking out of the symbiote next to an unconscious Eleanor. Lunella reached to try and get it but was jolted by a sudden appearance of lightning crashing somewhere close and Lunella was back in the dark gray mirk of the symbiote’s mind.

            “You were gone for a while,” Eleanor said, “What can I do?”

            “There’s my boxing glove, sitting right in front of your face,” Lunella state, “You need to grab it.”

            “Okay,” Eleanor said resolutely.

            There was a second of Eleanor concentrating hard then, without a flicker, she was gone.

            “I hope she’s okay out there,” Laura said.

            Lunella charged towards the panda looking guy.

            Laura stopped her, “Whoa, don’t get close to that gilipollas. He’ll do horrible things to you.”

            “We need all the help we can get,” Lunella stated. Then she pushed past Laura and started slapping the panda man’s face. It took eight slaps, but he was finally up.

            Weakly the panda man rose from the squishy floor. He looked around then locked eyes with Laura.

            “X-23,” he said as he staggered up.

            Laura was ready for a fight, but the panda man fell to his knees.

            “El Segador,” Laura spat.

            “So, I’m not alone again. Did that Bitch and her black goo bring you two here to torture me or something,” El Segador said.

            “No, we’re trying to get out of _your_ black goo,” Laura said.

            “If you woke me up to try and convince me to help you, then think again. I’ve been fighting to get away from this thing for God knows how long. It always brought on more people to feed its weird desires and discards them… At least I’ll have the satisfaction of seeing it done to you X-23,” El Segador stated.

            Then without warning Lunella was outside of the symbiote’s consciousness. Lunella could hear Laura cursing in Spanish somewhere and close by she could see that Eleanor had punched a hole into one of the ice blocks, lodging them into place. She didn’t understand why the symbiote didn’t let go of her. Above Eleanor, Lunella noticed a sharp object looming over her and assumed one was over herself. All around them were all the heroes that came to Piper’s party.

            “Tell us what you want Toxin,” Piper said in a cautious tone.

            After a long pause the symbiote said, “You know who I am?”

            Piper took a gentle step forward, “Do you not know who you are?”

            Another pause and Toxin replied, “I think I remember you, you left us to burn.”

            Lunella felt something sharp push into her scalp. She didn’t move and couldn’t think.

            “You’re right,” Piper said in a panic then said calmly, “We shouldn’t have left you in the fire, you have every right to feel upset.”

The pressure subsided but Lunella could still feel the sharp point on her head. Piper took another gentle step forward.

“We promise, Toxin, making you was an accident. If we had known, Venom and I would have never left you like that,” Piper said.

Lunella could feel the symbiote’s grip loosen around her and she noticed that Laura hasn’t said anything in a while.

Piper took another step closer to them. Piper was now an arm’s length away from them.

“How long have you been living like this,” Piper said, “all alone.”

To Lunella, Piper’s voice sounded different, it sounded like a mix of both Venom and Piper’s voice now that they’re closer.

“I don’t know,” Toxin said.

“You don’t have to live like this,” Piper and Venom said together, “I know finding a proper host is hard. Being alone is hard and you don’t have to be alone anymore.”

Lunella couldn’t help but think, what are they doing?

Piper was now reaching out and touching the symbiote and said, “Please Toxin, let go of our family.”

It officially did and Lunella grabbed Eleanor’s hand and ran for it towards her mother. Lunella heard a thud and when she turned around Piper was on the ground with Toxin gone.

Her mother, father, and Lunella all ran to Piper, who was laying on the ground next to a very burnt looking panda man.

“Piper, Honey, wake up,” T’Challa said.

“Don’t die on us Sweetie,” Ms. Munroe said.

Hearing her parents talk, and the experience of the night overwhelmed Lunella and she started to bawl, “Wake up! Wake up!”

Then Piper started to regain consciousness, but she looked different. Her teeth looked sharper, and she didn’t have her irises anymore.

“We’re alive, I’m alive,” Piper said, but her voice sounded like three voices were talking at the same time, “We were just acclimatizing and getting Toxin up to speed.”

Piper’s even, nonchalant tone wasn’t giving Lunella the comfort she needed, “I’m so sorry, Piper.”

“Lunella,” Piper cooed, “Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong.”

“None of this would have happened if I had kept my windows closed, we wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped if I hadn’t gotten so mad at Rick, none of this would have happened if I had just talked to you,” Lunella said, “I thought, I thought…”

“Oh, Lunella,” T’Challa and Piper said at the same time.

Ms. Munroe pulled Lunella into a hug, “It’s not your fault, Lu-Lu and it wasn’t your fault what happened you your first family either.”

“You believe us, right,” T’Challa asked.

Lunella was quiet for a moment, “Maybe.”

“We’ll take it” Piper said.

“Okay,” Deadpool said as he clapped his hands together. Everyone turned to him. “Who wants to get Mexican food.”

“We should probably take care of him first,” Piper said pointed to El Segador who was laying unconscious beside them.

“I’ll take care of it,” Director Fury said.


	22. Fresh Start: No Rest for the Weary

The Piper squad sat down a heavy metal contraption into the corner of Tony's lab as instructed by Riri. The background news radio that was playing was talking about resent convicts escaping prison, one of them being Doc Ock and how Spider-Man was helping the police force find him again.

"Here?" Piper asked not paying attention to anything but her task.

"That's perfect, thank you" Riri said as she was finishing fixing up the mini computer that got smashed at the party last week.

"Thank you for fixing Lunella's computer for me," Piper said with her echo-y voice, "We're sure she'll be ecstatic to see it fixed."

"I don't know," Riri said, "As an inventor, myself, I'd be upset that someone fixed something on my invention that I couldn't do."

"But Lunella and Rick were both so upset over the matter," Piper said, "We couldn't just leave it in our room."

Riri only shrugged as she did one final tweak with her small screwdriver and handed it to Piper, "Well, just in case, I fixed the physical aspects of the computer, but I'll leave the software to your sister."

"Thank you," Piper said as she took the computer from Riri's grasp.

From across the room the laboratory doors slid open revealing Tony looking at a list. Then he moved to the left, his muscle memory making him think that something was in his way, then he ran into one of his three-shelved toolbox on wheels. He looked up in shock.

"Oh, that's right," He said to himself then louder he said, "Good work, Piper! You can go do whatever now, my lab looks spotless."

"Okay," Piper said to Tony then said to Riri, "See ya around."

Riri gave Piper a thumbs up as she was now focused on a humanoid robot arm.

Piper was walking past Tony when he said, "Now hold on."

Confused at first, Piper stood in front of Tony as he took out his wallet. She wasn't confused any more when Tony paid Piper, in cash, for her work.

"There you go," Tony said, "$1,000 for your hard work."

"What," Piper sputtered, "Why $1,000 for moving stuff around?"

Tony was silent for a moment, "You're right, I should give you $500 more."

"No," Piper said, stopping Tony from pulling out five one-hundreds, "$1,000 is too much! You're just like Dad. Who carries $1,500 on them?"

Tony gave Piper puppy dog eyes, "Well, I want to give you the valued amount that you deserve."

Piper could hear Riri snickering over by her workplace as Piper sighed.

Internally Venom said, "You might as well take the money."

"I don't see why not," Toxin added to the silent conversation.

"$1,000 is enough Tony, thank you," Piper said. She then folded the ten one-hundred-dollar bills and started to leave.

"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. stated, "You're forgetting to invite her to the charity."

"Charity?" Piper questioned.

"Oh, yah," Tony said, then he pulled out four envelopes from his back pocket, "Thanks J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Any time, Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. said.

Tony handed the envelopes to Piper and Piper saw that they had gold letterings on them with her family's name on them.

"It's a black tie event, the charity's about supporting the Mutant community and bringing awareness to the public and so on," Tony laminated, "Since you were coming over to help, might as well give you the invitations in person than wait through the mailing process."

"Cool," Piper said, "See you around."

# # #

Piper, Venom, and Toxin sat on a random roof top as the late afternoon summer breeze and city noise washed over them. Piper opened her envelope and read it:

 

                                                                                                                  Piper,

You are formally invited to the

_Mutant Maybe Us Charity Ball._

There will be a Dinner, a guest comedian: John Mulaney,

and guest singer: Childish Gambino.

The dinner will take place at Stark Tower Ball Room 505 on July 20th.

Wear your best black-tie suit or dress and you are welcome to one plus one.

 

"Oh, this is like, two months away from now," Piper thought to Venom and Toxin.

"What does it mean, plus one?" Toxin asked.

"It means we can bring someone with us to the party," Venom answered.

"Oh, then we're already set with the three of us," Toxin said.

Piper patted Toxin's disembodied head, "Sorry bud, but it's not that simple. The other heroes may accept you and Venom, but I'm worried about the backlash from the general public. You two will have to stay hidden."

"Oh, okay," Toxin said a little forlorn.

Venom huffed, "This is stupid. We won't hurt them unless they hurt us."

"Venom," Piper said curtly, "You got to understand that humans have a weird bias against strangers, especially those who look different to them. Please, be patient with us."

"So, who will we invite with us?" Toxin asked as Venom rest their head on top of Piper's.

Piper shrugged, "Don't know, I guess I'll just ask the first person I see that I know."

From a distance Piper could hear police sirens coming towards them. Piper then saw a speeding car fly past, almost hitting some citizens, and not too far behind were the police cars. Without thinking Piper got up and started to follow the speeding car by jumping from roof top to roof top. When they ran out of roof tops, Toxin, Venom, and Piper used their combined masses to make a retractable webbing, like what the Spider Heroes do to get around. Speaking of Spider Heroes, Piper saw in the corner of her eye the red and black spandex of one of the Spider-Men as they focused on getting to the car.

After following the speeding car and police for ten blocks the Piper Squad managed to jump onto the roof of the car and was instantly met with flying bullets. In retaliation, Toxin broke through the side windows and stole their guns. Then Piper and Venom grabbed hold of the roof of the car, jump backwards on to the asphalt, making the car go up into an angle, making it easier for them to lift it up by its roof. The Piper squad was breathing heavily has they held on to the car that was spinning its wheels in the air. Then they heard one of the doors open as the cop cars got closer, a perp started running away, but the guy got pinned down by some webbing. Then they felt the webbing hit the doors of the car. Then Spider-Man landed beside Piper as the Policemen parked in front of them.

"Hey, quick thinking… Do you have a super name yet?" Spider-Man asked.

"Yah, it's Oobleck," Piper answered with her echo-y voice.

The Policemen got out of their cars with their guns pointed at them and someone on the car speaker phone said, "Put the car and guns down."

Piper did as she was told.

"Get down on the ground," The speaker phone Policeman demanded.

Piper looked to Spider-Man in confusion and he shrugged at her and proceed to get down too.

"Not you Spider-Man, just the Mutant," The speaker phone Policeman stated.

"Oh no," Piper thought, "Guy's be good."

"Are we in trouble?" Toxin thought to ask.

"I'll bite their heads off if they touch you," Venom thought to Piper.

Piper got on the ground as Spider-Man protested, "Don't you dare," Piper thought back.

Piper got flash backs from when she was a part of her old gang as the Policemen put handcuffs on her too tightly behind her back, slammed her into a police car and patted her down in places, on her body, she didn't think they had to. Venom was furious but the symbiote managed to stay hidden with Toxin, deciding to reassure Toxin instead. One of Policemen grabbed Piper's wallet and rummaged around it.

"Look at this boy's, she's got $1,000 on her. Probably stole it," the man said.

Piper rolled her eyes to herself. Then she watched as Firefighters came in to use the jaws of life on the car that red and black Spider-Man webbed up.

"Oh, and what do we have here, another stolen item, a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge," He said, "Might as well see who she stole it from."

Piper thought to herself how lucky it was that she got her photo in the S.H.I.E.L.D. data base updated. She listened to Spider-Man complain to someone as another cop came up to her to read her, her rights.

Several minutes pass as she is purposely mistreated by the authorities when the same Policeman that took her wallet came back apologizing to her.

"Uncuff her," The Policeman said, sounding genuinely fearful.

The other Policemen looked at him in confusion and were questioning him.

"She's a genuine S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," The Policeman stated, "Just do it."

Piper then turned around to face the man, "No need," She said in her echo-y voice. Then she raised her arms over her head and towards her chest, then she fazed through the handcuffs. Making sure that they could all see that she let them do this. Some of the Policemen looked sick to their stomach.

"Here are your handcuffs and I would like my wallet back," Piper said sternly, and she looked at the Policeman's badge, "Mr. Smith."

"Yes, Ma'am," Mr. Smith saluted as he handed Piper over her money and wallet.

They exchanged their items and Piper asked as she put away her wallet, "Is this how you treat all Mutants you encounter, Mr. Smith?"

"N-no Ma'am," Mr. Smith stuttered for only a second.

Piper didn't believe him, "Do you gentlemen need any more help with the wrong doers?"

"Not unless you think so," Mr. Smith said rigidly.

Piper turned to Spider-Man, "Spider-Man?"

"I'm ready to go," He said.

"Then good day to you all," Piper said, and she super jumped to the closest rooftop leaving the policemen behind and with Spider-Man following close behind.

# # #

"Did you see the look on all their faces when you did that thing with your arms," Spider-Man said, "I've never seen so many faces look like they've shit themselves."

They were hanging around on a random roof top, miles away from the crime scene they left.

"We're just glad my mutant ability is what it is, or they would have taken Lunella's newly fixed mini computer with my wallet," Piper stated.

"What do you mean?" Spider-Man asked.

Piper lifted her t-shirt to reveal her stomach, then her stomach turned inside out to show a fleshy cavity that was holding the said device.

"That is both amazing and disgusting," Spider-Man said as Piper dropped her shirt hem.

"We know," Piper said, "Hey, thanks for trying to stick up for us back there."

"My father's a police officer," Spider-Man said, "I know when things look unfair, thanks to him."

"Hey," Piper said, "do you want to go to a charity ball with me?"

"A charity ball?" Spider-Man said.

Piper pulled out the envelopes from her ribs and showed her open one to Spider-Man, "Yah, do you want to be my plus one, there'll be music and a comedian show."

Spider-Man saw the name John Mulaney, "John Mulaney's going to be there!? Sign me up!"

Piper fist pumped and said, "Yes!" Then she said, "Oh, do you have a pen on you?"

Spider-Man pulled out several permanent markers of various colors from the many pockets on his suit, "I have several," he said.

Piper chose a black marker and wrote her phone number on Spider-Man's bare hand, "There, now you can call us so we can better plan for this date."

"Oh, we're calling this a date?" Spider-Man said in a teasing tone.

Genuinely oblivious Piper said, "Yah, why not?"

Spider-Man was taken back, then rubbing the back of his neck and said, "Never mind."

From a distance Spider-Man and Piper heard the sound barrier breaking twice and saw in the twilight, orange and purple sky two flying, flaming masses heading for Central Park.

Piper groaned as Spider-Man sighed and said, "No rest for the weary, huh?"

Then they went to go see what all the noise was.

# # #

They managed to get to Central Park, directing any citizens they came across to stay away from the park.

"I feel like aliens come her a lot," Piper whispered to Spider-Man.

"This is my first time dealing with aliens," he replied.

The Piper squad jumped up a mile high to get a lay out of Central Park. They could see car sized craters in the distance, setting fire to the close by shrubbery. They didn't see anyone fighting or destroying anything.

As they fell, Piper was planning on landing on her feet like normal, but then she was caught and held, bridal style, by a beautiful, slender, dark haired man. Piper recognized him instantly and was repulsed.

"Good thing I caught you before—" He started to say but Piper punched him in the face, and he dropped Piper to hold his face. Piper then scurried over to Spider-Man to hide behind him.

"Stay away from me Eros of Titan," Piper shouted at him from behind Spider-Man.

Spider-Man was ultimately confused but didn't question Piper's instant repulsion to the strange floating man.

"Yah," Spider-Man said, "Stay away from her."

There was a small pop as he reset his nose then he said, "You got quite a punch. I love a woman with a fire-y spirit."

Piper shuddered with disgust and Venom decided to envelope Piper within itself. In Piper's place stood a buff black male looking symbiote.

Venom said, "We know you're not a bad guy, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard through the "Grape vine", as you Terrans would say, that Thanos has made an enemy of a beautiful Terran Woman, so I couldn't just stand aside and do nothing," Eros answered.

"And do you know the name of the Terran Woman," Spider-Man asked.

"No," Eros said, "My plan was to follow Black Dwarf before he found her."

Venom sighed then disappeared inside Piper as she said, "Let's go find the behemoth before he hurts someone."

They barely moved an inch before they heard someone charging at them through the surrounding undergrowth. Spider-Man pushed Piper out of the way as a giant double-sided axe missed them and logged into the earth. Black Dwarf burst through into the clearing and he picked up his thrown axe.

"I should have cut you down where you stood, you Terran-daughter of a cunt!" Black Dwarf roared.

"And upset poor Thanos dearest," Piper mocked, "You don't have what it takes."

"I don't think aggravating him is a good idea," Spider-Man said as he used the tall surrounding trees to swing them out of Black Dwarf's charge.

"Don't do anything that will try to pierce his skin," Piper informed Spider-Man, "He has unbreakable skin and double super strength."

Piper then slipped out of Spider-Man's grip and did a parkour safety roll landing.

"Come and get us," Piper yelled at Black Dwarf.

The Piper gang was ready to get out of the way of Black Dwarf's axe so they could then break it, but then Eros did a flying kick into Black Dwarf, making the alien fly back into the shrubbery.

Piper looked at Eros in disbelief as he said, "Don't worry M'Lady. I won't let him hurt you."

Piper growled in frustration as Spider-Man shouted, "A little help please!"

Piper ran towards the shouting as Spider-Man struggled to stay in the treetops and web down Black Dwarf as he cut down the trees. Piper combined her fists together to make a large hammer that Toxin and Venom added their own weight to, then they landed on Black Dwarf's shoulder's and brought the hammer down on his head.

The blow stunned Black Dwarf for a moment, then he reached back and grabbed Piper by the neck and slammed her into the ground. The ground shattering under the force of Black Dwarf's blow, Piper, Venom, and Toxin were stunned as they rippled from the impact.

"With the Time Stone, we can go back to the way things were, before you showed up," Black Dwarf growled as he went to grab the necklace around Piper's neck.

Then as Black Dwarf had his hand around Piper's necklace, Eros body slammed into Black Dwarf and Spider-Man used his electrical touch to electrocute Black Dwarf, making him drop the Time Stone. Recovered, the Piper squad picked up the Time Stone and swallowed it.

Eros looked at Piper, horrified, "Why would you swallow a powerful object like that!"

"Because we'll die first before Thanos gets back any of the Infinity Stones," Piper stated as they ran in to punch Black Dwarf in the face since Spider-Man was done electrocuting him.

Black Dwarf went flying backwards five feet.

"Can't you use your Emotional Telepathy to make him fall asleep, or something," Piper asked Eros.

Spider-Man was webbing down Black Dwarf as the alien struggled to get back up. Venom and Toxin used their tendrils and went in to steal Black Dwarf's axe.

"I could if he was even remotely tired," Eros stated, "Can't you use the Time Stone to rewind time or freeze it?"

"I don't know how to use the Time Stone, I only used it once and that was when I was holding the Mind Stone too," Piper explained as she held on to the newly required axe.

From a distance everyone heard a mighty roar. Piper and Spider-Man gave each other an understanding looked as they backed away from Black Dwarf. Eros followed their lead as the ground rumbled with pounding steps. Without Spider-Man constantly webbing him down, Black Dwarf easily got back up. He noticed the rumbling and got ready to face whoever it was that was charging and through the shrubbery charged The Hulk with Black Widow and Hawkeye riding on his shoulders. Hawkeye and Black Widow shot an arrow and a bullet, respectively, into each of Black Dwarf's eyes, blinding him for only a couple of seconds. The duo jumped off Hulk as Hulk body slammed into Black Dwarf. The rush of their collision was so great that a powerful wind radiated through the area.

"We have the park secured," Hawkeye told them.

"That's one of Thanos's men, right," Black Widow said to Piper, "What does he want."

"He's, here to kill us," Piper said in her echo-y voice, "and he wants the Time Stone so he can go back and stop us from destroying Thanos's ship and army."

Everyone dodged out of the way as Hulk was thrown backwards into a pond.

"Well, where is it?" Black Widow said as everyone started hitting Black Dwarf with everything they got.

"We swallowed it," Piper stated as she started running towards the pond to give Hulk the giant axe.

"What!" Both Black Widow and Hawkeye shouted.

Sopping wet, Hulk super jumped out of the pond and landed back onto dry land. He saw that Piper was giving him an axe and quickly took it with an appreciative smile. Then Hulk went back into the fray, expertly swinging the axe at Black Dwarf, creating another puff of wind from both of their exertion. The axe couldn't penetrate Black Dwarf's skin, but that didn't mean Hulk wasn't hurting him. Black Dwarf parried the swinging of the axe but broke his right arm and left hand, then he went in to headbutt Hulk in the nose. Green blood spilled down Hulk's mouth as he took the handle of the axe and brought it around Black Dwarf's neck, then Hulk proceeded to headbutt Black Dwarf repeatedly; with each blow doing more damage to Black Dwarf than the first.

"Yah, get em Hulk," the Piper squad cheered.

"Shouldn't we help him," Eros asked Black Widow.

She shook her head, "It'd be dangerous to do so until he really does need our help."

There was a moment of silence as another gust of wind permeated through the area from the battle between Hulk and Black Dwarf who had gotten out of Hulk's grasp.

Eros then slid up close to Black Widow, "So how did a beautiful woman such as yourself—"

He didn't finish his sentence as Black Widow punched him in the face, sending him flying backwards five feet. He didn't hit the ground though as he used his flying abilities to keep himself in the air.

"Why are you Terran women so punch-y," He groaned as he held his cheek.

There was a sickening crunch as Hulk managed to break Black Dwarf's kneecaps. As Black Dwarf fell to his hands and knees, Hulk stomped on his back to make him stay on the ground, then with one mighty swing, Hulk brought down the axe on Black Dwarf's neck with such force that the ground around them shattered into a small crater. After a silent moment, Piper was the first one to run up to the battle scene jogging down the fractured crater. Piper checked to make sure that Black Dwarf was dead, there was a tinny cut on the back of Black Dwarf's neck that had a bit of bone sticking out, brownish yellow blood pooled out of Black Dwarf's mouth.

Piper patted Black Dwarf's head and said, "Sorry things couldn't've turned out different for you."

Hulk dropped the axe on top of Black Dwarf's back and sat down, panting.

Everyone else came close too. Black Widow was on her radio, telling everyone on the perimeter that the fight was over.

Hawkeye picked up the clawed hand of Black Dwarf then let it fall to the ground, "What are we going to do with it?"

"Him," Piper corrected Hawkeye, "We're going to have to cut him up into pieces and let him decompose in different sections of the world." The Piper squad contemplated eating him but thought better of it.

"Why do we have to cut him up," Spider-Man asked, "Can't we just bury him and be done with it?"

"Then that'll give Thanos a chance to use his learned magic to resurrect Black Dwarf," Piper stated.

"This Thanos guy knows magic," Spider-Man said in surprise.

"It's true," Eros stated, "One time he cursed me to always having a limp dick. It was the worst five years of my life."

Everyone stared at him in disgust.

"What?" Eros asked.

Piper said in her echo-y voice, "We hate you so much."


	23. Fresh Start: Home, Wade, and Asgard

The Piper Squad stood before Lunella's bedroom door. Mom and Dad were downstairs eating the second batch of fruit lasagna that they made, and Piper was holding a plate for Lunella.

"I don't know about this you two," Toxin thought nervously to them, "After what I did, I don't think I could ever face her."

"Maybe so," Piper thought, "but you can't let these things fester."

"Besides," Venom added, "She's apart of our brood. We need to talk to her since we can't talk to her like we would in the Hive Mind."

A dark gray tendril protruded out of Piper's back and knocked on Lunella's white door.

"Come in," Lunella said, almost too quietly.

Piper opened the door. The Squad could see that Lunella was working on her laptop on her metal work bench, code could be seen on the screen as the mini computer was plugged up to it.

"We brought lasagna," Piper said, her voice echoing unnaturally.

Lunella turned around and smiled, "Thanks," she said, sounding like what a freshly resurrected mummy would sound like.

Piper handed the lasagna to Lunella and Piper looked at Lunella expectantly. Lunella looked at the plate in confusion.

"Why is it purple and green?" Lunella asked.

"Because it's a fruit lasagna," Piper explained as she sat on Lunella's polka-dot covered bed, "I've made two, one for home and one to take over to Mr. Deadpool's apartment today."

Lunella gave Piper an unsure and disgusted look, then took a small bite and instantly spat it out and gave the plate back to Piper.

"It's not for me," Lunella said apologetically.

Piper waved it off, "It's fine, it's fine."

They sat in silence for a minute at Piper ate some of her sister's lasagna.

"Now's your chance, Toxin," Venom thought to him.

Toxin asked Piper to set her up for him.

"Will you close the door behind you when you leave," Lunella asked as she proceeded to go back to working on her mini computer.

"Actually, there's something we need to talk to you about, or well, it's Toxin that wants to speak with you," Piper said in her echo-y voice.

Lunella leaned back into her chair and pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her legs, "What does he want with me?"

Piper's posture turned from sitting up straight with open body language to being hunched over and closed off body language as Toxin took over.

"I know you've been avoiding me, specifically, over these past three weeks I've been living here, and I understand why," Toxin said. His voice was higher pitched than Venom's trademark deepness put not as high as Piper's normal old voice.

Lunella nestled her face into her knees as she stared daggers into the Symbiote that was puppet-ing her sister's body

"That's it, keep going," Piper thought silently to Toxin.

"You're doing great," Venom encouraged him with Piper.

"I just wanted to say, that I'm sorry," Toxin said to Lunella, "I'm sorry for threatening your life, and for kidnapping you."

Toxin paused, thinking Lunella might say something. She did not.

"I'm not telling you that I'm sorry, because I think you should forgive me or anything like that," Toxin decided to add, "I just want to have a good relationship with you."

Toxin paused again, still Lunella didn't say anything as she continued to stare, but she had stopped hugging her legs.

"And, it's okay if we don't have a relationship at all, I understand now that what I did is unforgiveable and if you want to hate me for that, that's fine," Toxin paused, then added, "Thought, it will make me cry, thinking you'll hate me for the rest of your life…"

Toxin had now curled up Piper's body into a ball. Not literally, but they could if they wanted to.

Toxin thought silently to the others, "Why isn't she saying anything?"

"Do human's take a while to talk when they haven't for a while," Venom thought to Piper.

Piper mentally shrugged at them, "It depends. She's probably just thinking."

Lunella got up out of her swivel chair and went over to sit next to Toxin who was still puppet-ing Piper's body. Toxin unrolled himself and scooted over so Lunella would have room to sit. They were silent for a moment longer as they sat on her bed together.

"I will never forgive you for threatening my life and the other's and I won't forgive you for kidnapping me either," Lunella stated quietly.

"That's fair," Toxin said as he looked down at Piper's feet.

Toxin felt Lunella hold Piper's hand and he looked at Lunella in surprise.

"Thank you, for apologizing," Lunella said with a faint smile on her face, "It does make me feel better."

Toxin smiled, "Good. That was the point."

Toxin then retreated into the mental crevasse of Piper's mind and Piper took over her body again. Piper then pulled Lunella into a side hug and kissed her on the top of her head.

"We're glad that went so well," Piper said, "We're glad you feel better now."

"To be honest, I think it is stupid for you to have another alien creature inside you," Lunella stated then added, "But, I didn't think he would apologize for anything, so that was nice."

Piper nodded. "I guess I'm just too much of a moron to know any better," then said, "But give Toxin a bit of slack, he's still learning to be a good person."

Lunella wrapped her arms around Piper's waist and squeezed hard, "I love you."

"Awe, we love you too," Piper cooed in her echo-y voice.

The Piper squad stood up, picked up the half-eaten plate of lasagna, and said, "Three down, two more to go."

"I wasn't the first person Toxin apologized to," Lunella asked as Piper started to walk away.

"We apologized to Mom and Dad last week," Piper stated.

# # #

Wade Wilson was laying on the cold hard wood floors of his living room. The only clothes he was wearing were his boxers that have Thor chibi patterns on them and his red and black mask. He was surrounded by junk food wrappers and Taco Bell delivery boxes as he slept. Close by was a pristine stuffed, white unicorn with a rainbow mane and one of his katanas.

Wade was rudely awakened by a rat that was gnawing on his left thigh. Wade quickly decapitated it using his katana then cuddled his stuffed unicorn.

"Good Morning, Beautiful," He told the toy.

Then making his voice higher pitched Wade said to himself through the Unicorn, "What are we going to do today, Wade?"

"We're going to find something to eat, then continue laying on the nice, cold floor," Wade said, booping the Unicorn on the nose.

There was a knock on the front door.

Then Wade said in a higher pitch through the Unicorn, "Gasp, a guest. I must make myself presentable." Then Wade went to his filthy bathroom and set the stuffed Unicorn on the sink counter in front of the bathroom mirror.

There was another knock on the door.

"Come in! The door's unlocked," Wade yelled as he walked back into the living room.

The door jiggled, then Piper walked inside and closed the door behind her, then the two aliens that are inhabiting her body manifested themselves outside of her as disembodied heads on noodle strings. Piper held in her grasp a tupperware of food stuff and grocery bags. All three of them looked around, clearly disgusted with the way Wade's apartment looks.

"I thought you were going to be the landlord," Wade stated as he scratched his butt, "How did you find my apartment? I haven't even told Colossus where I live."

Piper was still looking around when she said, "I just looked you up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. data base… Man, I've see how badly you've lived in many variations of your life, but seeing it in person like this makes it seem more sad than funny." She kicked aside a month-old full trash bag.

"Please," Wade said nonchalantly, "I'm among my people."

Piper smirked as she walked up to Wade then noticed his boxers, "Whoa! They're selling pretty cartoon versions of the Avengers on underwear! They're so cute!"

"Uh, that's call Chibi design," Venom corrected Piper, "It's an Anime thing."

"Oh, well, what's wrong with calling it a cute cartoon design, then," Piper asked.

Wade and Venom got very upset over the statement.

"American cartoons are not the same as Anime," Wade stated.

"Yah," Venom agreed, then said, "You watch Anime?"

"Why are you surprised," Wade replied, "You're the alien."

The two of them started discussing their favorite Anime's as Piper and Toxin felt left out of the loop.

Toxin whispered to Piper, "I'm so lost."

Piper whispered back, "But it's so cute to see them having fun together," Then out loud Piper said, "I brought food."

Wade instantly pushed Venom aside at the word food.

"Gimmy," He said salivating.

Piper handed Wade the tupperware.

After opening the tupperware Wade asked, "Why are there fruit by the foot roll ups in this thing?", disappointed that it wasn't going to be some kind of Mexican food.

"That's because it's fruit lasagna," Piper said proudly, then said, "It'll make pooping easier for you since I know you basically eat nothing but meat and cheese."

Wade looked between the weirdly colored lasagna and back up to an expectant Piper. She was smiling so big her sharp teeth were jutting out. Wade then picked up the fork that was inside the tupperware and proceeded to take a bite. It wasn't half bad, he thought to himself, as he scarfed down more of the gooie goodness.

Piper smiled even wider, then she clapped once and said, "While you eat, I'm going to clean up your apartment."

With a mouth full of food Wade said, "Really? You sure that's a good idea?"

Piper waved away Wade's comment, "Please, I've been reading your comics since I was twelve. Nothing in this apartment will make me wonder about anything."

Wade sat down on the floor, "Alright, knock yourself out."

After scolding Venom for almost eating the decapitated rat, the two symbiotes disappeared back into Piper and she grew from the waist up to about six feet all; as she was growing, two pairs of arms grew out of her sides, a black pair of arms and a dark gray pair of arms.

Swallowing some food Wade said, "Wow, you could make for a wonderful movie monster."

"Awe, thanks," Piper said in her echo-y voice.

The Piper Squad dug into the grocery bags, set out different cleaning supplies and got to work. First they collected all of the trash and loose laundry that they could find. They swept and mopped the floors of the living room, bathroom, and single bedroom. They washed the walls with bleach and dusted any shelf like surface they could find. They kept finding some of Wade's sex toys that were none electrical and threw them into a bucket they borrowed; filled with half bleach and half boiling water to soak and wash for later, then they found all of his Anime porn and alphabetized it by director name.

While this was happening, Wade stayed out of the way as best as he could by staying on his bed while playing with his white unicorn. As they cleaned Wade asked questions about things like; how Piper thought Eleanor was doing, how Piper was dealing with her new looks, and why was she doing this. All the while laughing at Piper's reaction over fining each new lost sex toy.

"Well, whether you know it or not, you've helped me a lot when I was growing up without Grandma," Piper stated as she threw a particularly large fake penis into the bleach bucket, "And I know I haven't really shown my appreciation much, but I've been living in this universe for awhile and the shock of meeting my favorite heroes has been close to nonexistent."

The left hand of the dark gray arms turned into Toxin's head, "Are you not from this universe?"  
Piper patted Toxin's head, "Yes, I'm not from this universe."

"Do you miss the universe you came from," Toxin asked.

"Yes, but not as much as when I first got here," Piper answered, "It's a secret too. Your Grandma, Grandpa, and Venom know and so does Mr. Deadpool, a few of the X-men, and all of the main team members of the Avengers know, but no one else. Venom and I wanted to break the news to you like this."

The right hand of the black arms turned into Venom's head, "Are you okay?"

Wade watched as Toxin didn't say anything and turned back into a pair of dark gray hands with Venom following suit. Piper went over to the stacks of dvds next to the TV and dvd player on the floor to organized more of Wade's Anime porn movies.

"So you really do treat that thing like a child," Wade said coldly.

"I don't like your tone mister," Piper curtly said, "Toxin is our son and I will not let you call him a thing."

"Sorry," Wade said, "But I don't trust anything that kidnaps children."

Toxin's head manifested out of Piper's back, "Sorry about that. We plan on going to see Eleanor so I can apologize to her too. But we're waiting."

"Waiting for what," Wade asked.

"For a chance to visit with her in person," Toxin stated.

"Can't you just call Eleanor up on your phone," Wade said, "I know she gave you her phone number."

Toxin disappeared back inside Piper as Piper said, "We have been told our voices are disconcerting."

"Well, that's rude," Wade said, "Who said that?"

"Just random people on the streets and Mom and Dad," Piper said her voice still echoing unnaturally.

"Really? I didn't think T'Challa or Ororo would say anything about it," Wade said.

"Well they haven't said it to our face," Piper explained, "We just overheard them talking to each other in their room. We don't blame them for how they feel thought."

Wade watched as Piper suddenly stood up and he noticed that his anime porn collection hasn't looked that organized since never. Too bad it wasn't going to look that good for long.

"Alright, time for laundry," Piper stated, "I have all your clothes gathered except for your mask." Then she made a give-it-here motion at Wade with her original hand.

Wade held on tight to his mask, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Mr. Deadpool, I've seen you without your mask before," Piper replied.

"Yah, but that was unintentional and most of my skin was burnt off," Wade stated.

Piper sighed, "That wasn't what I meant but fine, keep smelling whatever nasty funk is coming off of your mask."

With stuffed toy in hand, Wade followed Piper out of his room to the living room where she was collecting all of his clothes, which wasn't much; a few pairs of underwear, five exact copies of his super suit minus one mask, three hoodies and five pairs of sweat pants.

In a higher tone of voice Wade said through the stuffed unicorn, "Don't be mad at him. He's just uncomfortable with showing his face."

After picking up the laundry Piper turned around and booped the Unicorn on the nose, "We're not mad. We just got frustrate." Then she looked to Wade, "We're not going to force you to take off your mask Mr. Deadpool. We'll just switch out your mask after we clean the rest of your laundry."

Wade placed a hand over his heart and said, "Awe," Then they heard something hard hitting the floor.

They both looked down and saw a clear crystal ball sitting on the floor, the size of a tennis ball.

"What's that?" Piper asked, her voice echoing.

"You know, I don't remember," Wade said scratching his head as Piper picked it up with her dark gray hands, "I know I stole it to sell it to someone, but I don't remember any more."

"Do you still need to sell it?" Piper asked.

"No, I'm good on money right now," Wade stated.

"Then I'll just keep this to give to S.H.I.E.L.D." Piper said as she pocketed it.

There was a knock on the front door.

"I'll get it," Piper said as she shrunk back down to 4ft. 7in. and was back to one pair of arms.

Wade sat down his stuffed unicorn and followed from behind, wondering who was at the door. When Piper opened the door, he saw that it was the old lady that lived underneath him. She was wearing one of those purple old pajama dresses that all grandmothers seem to wear with matching purple slippers. Her gray hair was in pink rollers and she was holding her wrinkly hands in front of her like she was praying for everyone's well-being. He hasn't remembered her name yet, but she's fed him every once in a while so Wade liked her.

"Hey, Grandma," Wade greeted.

As Grandma was waving at him, Wade saw that Piper had produced a white tentacle from her back and quickly wrapped it around Grandma's neck and pulled her into his apartment and closed the door quickly.

"Piper, what the fuck," Wade said surprised.

Piper waved him off, "Relax, it's Loki. I'm surprised he came here undisguised."

Wade did a double take. The old woman in front of him definitely looked like Grandma.

"How are you so sure," Wade said, and he took Grandma by the hands in a reassuring way.

Piper looked at him, brows furrowed, "What do you mean, how-are-we-sure, it's him."

"Wade, help me? What—" Grandma started to say but then Piper interrupted her with her restrained snorting.

"I'm sorry," Piper said, "The way he's talking right now is hilarious to me."

"Piper, you're messing with my food supply!" Wade stated, "All I see is you strangling a poor old woman."

"Well, is there a way up to the roof top then? I'll prove that it's Loki up there," Piper then added, "Besides, we've been looking everywhere for him since he's friends with the Enchantress."

As Wade led Piper and Grandma to the roof top, Piper and Venom filled in Wade on the situation that happened at Wakanda and that they are trying to find the staff pieces to protect and hide again.

The air was warm and welcomingly uncomfortable. The sky was turning a dirty orange color as a gentle cool breeze blew over them. The city traffic was as obnoxious as usual.

"Alright, we're here," Wade stated, "Now what?"

"Oh, it's okay, Deary," Grandma said to Wade, "Once she's realized that she has the wrong person, I'm sure she'll be sorry."

"Loki, I can literally see through your disguise," Piper stated as she kept a firm grip on Grandma's neck. Then Piper looked up into the sky and yelled, "Heimdall! We found Loki; can you bring us up!"

Wade couldn't help but notice how nervous Grandma looked when Piper said Heimdall. There was a couple of seconds of silence as the wind died down and the sounds of the city seemed to fade away. Then there was a roaring sound like a waterfall and rainbow lights surrounded them and made Wade's stomach flip as he felt himself float up. Within a minute Wade found himself standing on a crystal rainbow bridge and standing in front of a black man in gold armor, holding a giant golden sword.

"Wow, someone's overcompensating for something," Wade said aloud.

Piper's restrained snickering sounded like the sound affect you hear of multiple ghost children laughing in a haunted house.

The blazing orange eyes of Heimdall seemed to probe into his soul as Heimdall glared at Wade. Heimdall then regarded the old woman Wade called Grandma.

"I do not see Loki, but I know his magic when I see it," Heimdall said.

"Wait, so this old woman is being manipulated by Loki's magic?" Piper asked. "But I see him right here."

"I am unsure what you truly see," Heimdall replied, "but Frigga knows her son's magic more than anyone. I'm sure she'll know."

"Will you announce our arrival to Odin then, we don't want to be rude," Piper asked.

"You won't be rude, Piper Munroesdaughter, you are always welcome here," Heimdall stated.

"Well, if you're sure," Piper replied then she grabbed Wade's hand and marched foreword, "See you in a bit."

The air of Asgard was crisp and cool and felt good on Wade's irritated skin.

"I did not think I would get to come to Asgard in my boxers," Wade said, "Will Thor be flattered by my underwear or do you think he'll think I'm being creepy."

"Hard to say," Piper said as she waved at passerby's on their way through the Viking like village towards the white gold castle, "I know he feels flattered by the fact that people have embodied his likeness into objects, but then as a joke I showed him what people do to his image on the dark web and now he doesn't like body pillows anymore."

"Okay, don't be a creep. Got it," Wade stated then added, "But he's so hot."

After he said that Wade noticed that Grandma seemed disgusted and had rolled her eyes within the fraction of a second.

Piper chuckled, making her echoing voice sound unnerving, "Keep it in your pants."

They were climbing the stairs of the white gold castle of Asgard, passing by guards who eyed Wade suspiciously but were all smiles for Piper. They walked through corridors of pillars, statues of unknown Asgardian warriors, and a line of broken weaponry before coming to the entrance of the Great Hall. Odin was listening to a servant who was giving him an update report on finding the Enchantress. They both looked at them for a second to silently greet their entrance then the servant finished his report and left.

Odin stood up, "Piper Munroesdaughter! It is good to see you again. May I ask why you have brought with you this diseased looking man in his skivvies and an old woman here?"

"I've caught Loki," Piper said motioning to Grandma, "And the diseased looking man is a friend and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't refer to him like that. He can't help how he looks."

"Ah, my apologies then Mr.?" Odin said.

"Wade Wilson," Wade replied, "And no big deal. We're just here to show Grandma Loki here to Frigga."

"She is in the Garden teaching the village children with Thor," Odin stated.

"Please, let me go," Grandma pleaded, "I've done nothing wrong."

Wade followed Piper as she ignored Grandma and started walking down a small corridor that lead outside to the garden Odin mentioned. Thor and Frigga were standing in front of a tall tree as they were surrounded by twenty some children. Frigga's hair was silver and gold, pulled back into a long braid, and was wearing a long white and gold dress. Contrasted against the children's furry brown clothes. As Frigga was telling the history story, Thor was miming it out to the children. Wade noticed that Frigga was smiling as she was telling her history story but then when she looked up at them and saw Grandma her smile faded a bit.

"Okay, Children, I'll finished the story later," Frigga stated.

Some of the children awed in disappointment but most of them ran off to go play their games. Frigga, followed by Thor, walked up to the three of them.

"It's good to see you again, Loki," Frigga said to Grandma.

In a flash of green fire, Grandma disappeared and a tall man with black hair and wearing green flowing clothes replaced her.

"Hello, Mother," Loki said.

Wade involuntarily jumped and yelled.

"See, we told you," Piper stated.

"Brother!" Thor greeted happily, "I'm glad we found you, we could use your help."

"Like I'm going to help you," Loki said, indignantly.

"You're one of Thor's friends, right," Frigga said to Piper.

"Yes, Ma'am," Piper replied.

"Will you please let go of my son," Frigga asked.

"With all do respect, Ma'am, no," Piper stated.

Wade didn't think that was a smart answer.

"Excuse you," Frigga said.

"He is literally the Trickster God," Piper elaborated, "I'm not letting go."

Thor placed a hand on Frigga's shoulder, "She's got a point, Mother."

Frigga sighed, "I just hate to see my boys chained up."

"I hate it too, Mother," Loki stated.

"So why did you show up at my apartment," Wade asked Loki.

"I'm not telling," Loki said firmly.

"Loki," Frigga said gently but still in a chastising way.

Loki sighed, "I sensed the Crystal of Eternal View."

Wade noticed how Frigga and Thor's eyes widened in shock, "That's a magical item right?"

"It's extremely powerful," Frigga stated.

"It can make a man go mad with knowledge by holding it for too long," Thor added.

Piper pulled the tennis ball sized clear crystal from her pocket, "You mean this thing?"

"By Odin's beard," Thor stated as he staggered towards her, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yah, I'm fine. Magic doesn't affect me, remember," Piper stated.

Thor visibly relaxed, "Oh, right."

Her hands covered in her sleeves Frigga went up to Piper and said, "You should still give that to us. It's too dangerous for mortals to hold on to."

Piper agreed and gave the Crystal to Frigga on the promise that Frigga would give Piper a written statement about the exchange for S.H.I.E.L.D. Frigga then left and returned with a bathrobe looking piece of clothing which Wade happily received. Loki and Wade were then more fully informed about the incidences about Baron Mordo and him collecting the three pieces of the Berserker staff.

Loki was silent for a minute as he thought then said, "Okay, I'll help, but only because this Baron Bastard managed to break through my magical traps."

"Excellent," Thor stated.

Piper then finally let him go. Loki was rubbing his neck as he looked at her questioningly.

"Your pride is on the line and I know that's important to you," Piper stated.

"Not like he has much to begin with," Wade stated.

Piper refrained from laughing as Loki stared icy daggers at him. Wade didn't regret it.


	24. Fresh Start: Loss and Niflheimr

The Piper squad was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt with their S.H.I.E.L.D. super suit underneath and was ready to leave home with their Mother and little Sister for their first day at the X-Mansion. It would be Piper's first time since being released from Volunteer Jail Work at S.H.I.E.L.D., and first time going at all for Venom and Toxin. The Piper squad walked out of their room and knocked on Lunella's door.

"You ready, Lunella," Piper asked. Her voice echoing like usual.

Lunella walked out dressed in her usual blue jean overalls and an orange t-shirt. She nodded and said, "Ready."

The four of them walked downstairs so they could say goodbye to T'Challa as he was getting ready to leave on a mission to Niflheimr with Dr. Strange, Loki, and Thor. Ms. Munroe was already giving him a hug and they were kissing each other all over each other's faces as they made promises to be safe to each other.

"Stop it already," Lunella huffed, feeling embarrassed for them.

T'Challa walked up to his girls with arms open, "Give Dad a hug?"

The Piper squad gave T'Challa a hug but Lunella refused.

"You don't want to give your father a hug," Ms. Munroe said.

Lunella crossed her arms over her chest, "I like welcoming hugs better than goodbye hugs. I'll give him one when he comes back."

"Awe, okay," T'Challa said as he booped Lunella on the nose, "You be safe too."

"Okay," Lunella agreed.

A golden portal appeared in the living room and Dr. Strange poked his head through.

"Are you ready to go?" Dr. Strange asked.

T'Challa picked up a satchel off the living room floor and made his black panther super suit appear by touching his necklace. Before entering the portal T'Challa said one more goodbye and then was off. The five of them stayed in the living room until the golden portal disappeared, then they left home and drove to the X-Mansion. On the drive there Lunella asked Piper an out of the blue question.

"Piper, how did your parents die," Lunella asked.

"I told you, my Grandma died when gang members shot her when they were trying to rob us," Piper answered.

"No, I mean, your real parents. Not grandparents," Lunella asked.

"But my Grandma is my real parent," Piper said.

"Grandparents are not real parents, your Grandma didn't give birth to you," Lunella said, starting to get frustrated.

"Piper, honey, you know what she means and Lunella, Piper doesn't have to answer you if she doesn't want to," Ms. Munroe said, looking at them through the rearview mirror.

"No, it's fine Mom," Piper stated, then said to Lunella, "Grandma was my real parent, even if she didn't give birth to me. As for my birth parents, they're probably still alive out there somewhere."

"What do you mean," Lunella asked.

"Well, I never knew my father. He was just some random white dude my birth mother had a one-night stand with. My birth mother, after giving birth to me, stuck around for about a week before she left Grandma's house and never returned," Piper answered, "So they're most likely alive, but I will never know for sure."

"Oh… That's sad," Lunella said.

"How did you lose your family," Piper asked Lunella.

Lunella was silent for a long time before she answered, "I made an Omni-Wave Projector using alien technology I found and accidentally invited a, weird cavemen versus Dinosaur, rampage into my home, killing my family."

Gray and black tendrils and Piper's white tentacles sprouted out of Piper as they gravitated towards Lunella gently.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Ms. Munroe said.

"We wish we could make you feel like it wasn't your fault," Piper said, her voice echoing.

The rest of the drive was silent.

# # #

T'Challa, Thor, and Dr. Strange followed Loki down the wooden road of Yggdrasil to the Mist Realm of Niflheimr. Dr. Strange used his magic to help cloak himself, T'Challa, and Thor while Loki cloaked himself. Yggdrasil shook, and the party paused as the squirrel, Ratatoskr, passed by them on his decent down to the roots where the world serpent, Níðhöggr, lived, to deliver its hateful messages from the Eagle, Veðrfölnir. Ratatoskr's mere screech ingulfed the party in hatred and rage, but they didn't lose themselves as the squirrel passed them. Finally, they reached the gate of Niflheimr.

The Gate of Niflheimr was closed off by a wooden barrier with a wood burnt symbol on it. T'Challa figured the symbol was a representation of the world of Niflheimr. The wooden door itself seemed to fluctuate between being solid and foggy.

"Alright, don't panic if the door catches you," Loki said as he walked through the foggy door.

Dr. Strange said, "Why does he always sound like he's going to betray us?"

"He can't help it," Thor stated, "He's always sounded like that."

The three men managed to walk through the wooden barrier of Niflheimr with only Thor's cape getting stuck. Since they were on a time crunch, Thor just left his red cape behind. The air was thick with mist, and the world's light source seemed to always be in a state of twilight. There was a slight chill in the air, from a distance the pointy house sized boulders seemed to move and because of the heavy mist, it was harder to breath than usual.

"She lives here," T'Challa asked in a hushed voice, instantly hating the slight chill in the air.

Also whispering, Loki answered, "Well, even if you know that Amora is in Niflheimr, it's almost impossible to find her in Niflheimr," Loki then make a green flame appear in his hand and continued forward.

# # #

The Piper squad stood next to Ms. Munroe in her S.H.I.E.L.D. super suit as Ms. Munroe introduced the ten mutant students to her daughter and vice versa. Laura stood next to Lunella as she waved happily at Piper and Piper waved back.

"Do any of you know or remember Piper from a year and a half ago," Ms. Munroe asked the eight other students.

All eight of them shook their heads. Piper didn't recognize seeing them here last time either, so she assumed that they came in around the time she was locked up. Piper still knew who they were though; the child colon of Apocalypse Evan Sabahnur, Professor Xavier's illegitimate son David Haller, Banshee and Maeve's child Theresa Cassidy, the firecracker girl Jubilation Lee, Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman's children Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards, Colossus's little sister Illyana, and the punk looking Ellie Phimister. Ellie was obviously the oldest out of the ten children in Ms. Munroe's class, looking about fifteen or sixteen and the youngest being Lunella who just turned nine this June 15th.

"Well, my oldest daughter, Piper and her symbiotes will be training you today while I watch over you guys," Ms. Munroe said as she let the Piper squad take the floor.

"Hi," Piper said, "Don't let the face fool you we won't bite."

Only Laura and Lunella smiled at Piper's joke.

"Today, me," then Toxin's disembodied head appeared, "our son Toxin," then Venom's disembodied head appeared, "and Venom, my—"

"I'm Piper's Girlfriend," Venom stated, interrupting Piper.

Valeria Richards raised her hand.

"Yes," Piper called on her.

"If you're her girlfriend, then why is your voice so deep like a boy's," Valeria asked Venom.

Venom gave her best impression of a shrug a disembodied head can give, "Symbiotes are unsex. We're all capable of having "children" so my voice just is. Piper's been my host for so long that I want to be gender match-y with her, please call me a her/she despite what my voice sounds like."

"Okay," Valeria replied.

Piper clapped her hands, "Okay, with that out of the way, since I've never taught a class of anything before how about we get to know each other through a game of tag."

Some of the teenagers shrugged while the younger ones cheered.

"So, this is how we're going to play," Piper started to explain, "All of you are "it" and you guys have to tag us. When you tag us, you can sit down on the floor. Once all of you have sat down after tagging us, you have won the game. Alright?"

All ten of them nodded their heads.

Piper got in a fighting stance with Venom and Toxin still suspended outside of her body, but they didn't come at her yet.

"Well?" Piper questioned.

The first one to try and tag Piper was Illyana and Ellie. Illyana blasted Piper with magic missiles to trip the Piper squad up while Ellie ran in with energy and matter surrounding her like she was a falling meteor. Piper let the magic missiles wash over her as she dodged Ellie's tackle and made her trip.

"Come on," Venom said, "Don't be afraid to hurt us."

Laura ran then jumped at the Piper squad in a playfully ravenous way; the claws on her hands were out. Piper tried to dodge but felt herself being lifted from the ground. She looked and saw that David was concentrating with all his might on Piper. Working together, Venom and Toxin moved Piper out of Laura's way as her clawed fist was about to reach her, making David loss his telekinetic grip on Piper. Piper gracefully landed on the floor, but then the Piper squad was seized by a gigantic version of Evan.

"Good job, Evan," Piper said, her voice echoing, "You got me when I was distracted."

Smiling slight, Evan Sabahnur sat the Piper squad down as he shrunk back to his normal size and sat cross legged on the floor.

Illyana tried another magical spell on Piper, a kind of light energy blast with Jubilation joining in; shooting off her own firework like powers at the Piper squad. Piper let the magic pass through her and backflip dodged Jubilation's attack.

"Stop using your magic, Illyana," Valeria shouted, "She's immune!"

"What, really," Illyana shouted.

"Good job picking that up, Valeria," Toxin stated.

Lunella, on special roller blades in her shoes that she invented, speedily got in close to the Piper squad. To avoid Lunella from touching them, Piper jumped up to the ceiling of the training room. Holding on tight by the symbiote's tendrils and by Piper's own tentacles but was shot down by Franklin's bio-blasts. Theresa then caught the Piper squad in a sonic carrier wave to prevent them from falling too hard.

When the Piper squad landed on the ground Theresa then changed her carrier wave song to a siren's song. Everyone was entranced by Theresa, except for Ms. Munroe who had covered her ears before Theresa started her siren's song. Willingly, under Theresa's siren's song, the Piper squad walked up to Theresa for her to tag them as well as the whole class. As soon as Theresa tagged the Piper squad Theresa stopped singing. The Piper squad was the first people to gain their senses back.

Piper looked around then said to the red headed Theresa, "Hey, good job catching us."

"We might want to practice your focusing abilities, though," Venom chimed in.

As the rest of the kids were starting to wake up from Theresa's siren's song, the Intruder Alert Alarm started to blare, then the Silver Surfer appeared.

# # #

In the land of Niflheimr, T'Challa and company were having trouble fighting against hordes of zombie liked warriors, dressed in damaged and old Viking armors.

"I don't sense any malice from these creatures, so why are they attacking us," Dr. Strange said as he cut a zombie warrior in half using a magical golden rope.

"They're Draugr, Strange," Loki stated as he lit three dozen Draugrs in green fire, instantly turning them to dust.

"That doesn't explain anything," T'Challa stated as he round-house kicked one Draugr then punched the head off of another Draugr.

Thor then stated as he was waiting for Mjolnir to fly back to him, "Draugr, are the dead that didn't die gloriously or always ran from a fight before they died, who escaped from Hel to prove that they are worthy of Valhalla."

"It's annoying, really," Loki stated, burning another three dozen Draugr. Then he said, "Come on, we're almost to the well."

The four of them managed to rid the immediate area of Draugr as they came upon an old wooden well.

"Well, well, well, we meet again," Thor stated.

Dr. Strange stared at Thor, "Who are you talking to?"

"I thought I'd try a Midgardian pun," Thor replied, "Did you think it was funny?"

"Not at all," Dr. Strange said.

As they talked T'Challa watched Loki examine the well.

"What are you doing," T'Challa asked.

"I'm looking for Amora's sigil, and as her friend, I'm not explaining any further," Loki stated. Then after a few more minutes of searching Loki said, "Okay, Gentlemen, I know where we need to go from here." Then he jumped into the well.

# # #

Back at the X-Mansion, the Piper squad nervously greeted the Silver Surfer.

"Oh, hey," Piper said as she felt Venom and Toxin quiver with fear inside her, "Long time no see. How have you been?"

"Where is she," the Silver Surfer stated.

The younger children hid behind the teenagers as Ms. Munroe walked between the Silver Surfer and everyone else.

"Excuse you, you're interrupting a class. If you—"

Silver Surfer telekinetically picked Ms. Munroe up and threw her hard against the metal walls of the training room, knocking her unconscious. Everyone shrieked for Ms. Munroe, the two loudest voices being Piper and Lunella.

"What the fuck, man," Piper said, her voice echoing.

"I said where is she," Silver Surfer stated again. Floating closer and closer.

Then it clicked in Piper's head, "I'm sorry, Norrin. I don't know where else Shalla Bal might be."

The Silver Surfer extended his hand towards Piper and she was then telekinetically picked up and Piper's throat was in the Silver Surfer's hand.

"You're lying, you must know more than what you're letting on," The Silver Surfer said.

Choking, Piper couldn't say anything in her defense. Venom and Toxin tried to cut the Silver Surfer's hand off to make him let go of Piper, but the Silver Surfer easily destabilized their forms. Then the children started to attack the Silver Surfer with their powers, but the Silver Surfer only had to make a shield and all their attacks were null an' void.

The Silver Surfer forcibly entered Piper's mind, thinking to her, "I will find her, whether you help me willingly or not."

# # #

T'Challa, Dr. Strange, Thor, and Loki all landed on the bottom of the well, safely and were walking down a dirt tunnel. It was a long, wet, and semi-dark walk, but at the end of the tunnel they came to a grand, castle-like-home, made of gold and silver. T'Challa made a move towards the castle-like-home but was taken aback when he saw Loki walk past it and actively avoiding it, with Dr. Strange and Thor close behind.

"Illusion," T'Challa asked.

"Indeed," Dr. Strange confirmed.

The four of them continued to walk around it until they got to the back of the castle-like-home where they saw a humble, home-y cottage with a straw roof and a splendid looking garden full of exotic looking plants. Loki then picked four purple flowers from a bush and gave one to each of them.

"Do  _not_  let go of these," Loki instructed.

Then they all walked up to the front door and Loki knocked. They waited for a couple of seconds as they heard someone walking to the front door. Then a woman with long blond hair in long green robes opened the door. She gave Loki a welcoming smile.

"It's good to see you old friend," Then she looked at the people Loki brought with him and her smile vanished and her eyes stared at them with frosty indifference, "I see you brought some guests with you."

"Yes, my brother's mortal friends have convinced me to help them and their problem might affect you too," Loki stated.

The Enchantress stepped aside to let them in with a sigh, "Might as well hear about it."

Once everyone was settled in a straw woven chair in the living room of the cottage, everyone explained the situation with Baron Mordo and how he's collecting the three pieces of the Berserker Staff. Loki made sure to include in humiliation he felt about a mortal breaking through his magical defenses.

"And how do you know that it's my hiding spot this Baron Mordo's going after and not Odin's," The Enchantress asked.

"Odin already made sure it wasn't him," Thor answered.

The Enchantress leaned back in her chair, "I see… It'll be no good to have a mortal with the Berserker Staff, not even the gods could handle its power…" Then she looked to Loki, "You said you were personally offended by this Baron Mordo?"

"Yes, I would like your help straightening out this particular mortal," Loki confirmed.

The Enchantress was silent for a bit longer, then she stood up, "I will help you find and protect the final piece of the Berserker staff, but only for Loki's sake."

"Thank you," T'Challa replied.

Everyone else echoed his statement.

The Enchantress then told them how she was going to contact everyone and then when she was ready, she would lead them all to where she hid her piece of the staff and do her best to help her friend.

Loki and the Enchantress hugged goodbye, then she said, "I hope you three never return here again."

Then with a snap of her fingers all four of them were outside the wooden gate of Niflheimr on the Yggdrasil tree.

# # #

Piper knew she was in her own mind. Years of memories of reading comics reeled by on all sides of her like a movie; all of them were about the Silver Surfer and his life, at the moment. Behind her, Piper stood in front of a doorway and in front of her stood the Silver Surfer.

"Move," He demanded.

"I can't do that," Piper said.

"I've seen everything else," Silver Surfer said, motioning to all the moving pictures in Piper's head, "You're the only one who knows this much about any given thing, you've got to know where she is."

"I don't know! If she's not at any of the places that I already told you about, that you already took from me, then I don't know," Piper shouted at him.

Scowling, Silver Surfer knocked Piper to the side to get through the door. The hit made Piper feel like she was going to black out, but she had to persist. Who knows what would happen to such a powerful being, like the Silver Surfer, if he knew the whole truth.

Piper scrambled to her feet and jumped onto the back of the Silver Surfer and putting her feet on the door.

"I'm sorry you can't find Shalla Bal and I'm sorry your planet is dead," Piper stated, "But going through my mind won't help you anymore."

Silver Surfer threw Piper off his back and said, "No, you just refuse to help me. I can feel it in your mind. You know that she's alive out there, you are so sure, how do you explain that, other than you know where she is."

The Silver Surfer went to open the door again, but Piper put a lock on it. The Silver Surfer tore off the lock, and it made Piper feel like she was being cut but jagged shards of glass. Then Piper put more locks and a barricade on the door. The Silver Surfer tore through them just as easily and Piper felt even more pain. She felt like her mentality was breaking apart, but Piper persisted. She kept putting up different barriers against the door, just enough to slow down Silver Surfer as she crawled towards the door. Finally, delirious from pain, Piper reached the door and hugged it tight. The Silver Surfer tried to pull her away from it, but Piper refused.

"Get away from her," Jean Gray shouted.

Piper looked over her shoulder, wondering if they were out of her mindscape yet or not. They weren't. Instead, Piper saw Professor Xavier, Emma Frost, and Jean Gray standing in the film like void of Piper's mind.

"Don't worry Piper," Professor Xavier said, "We'll save you."

The three adults worked together to get Silver Surfer off of Piper and the door. Then, using their combined mental strengths, began fighting the Silver Surfer. Despite this battle being in the mind, and in someone else's mind at that, it wasn't free from injury, and Silver Surfer was stronger than anything that these three strong telepaths have ever faced.

Piper wanted to stay by the door, to just let herself mentally check out from the situation, but she couldn't. She didn't want some of her favorite heroes to fight against each other. Bracing herself against the door, Piper got back up on her feet and got in between the fight, but it rightly backfired. Piper was blown back by Silver Surfer's mental capacities as the telepathic trio struggled to defend themselves. Then the three of them manifested weapons from their imaginations and attacked the Silver Surfer.

"This is my mind," Piper said to herself.

Then with that thought reinforced in her, Piper thought of the most serine scene she could think of. The mind scape around them shifted to a grassy field on a hilltop. The fighting stopped from the sudden shift in scenery as the four of them looked at the clear blue sky and the farmland landscape. Everyone looked up the hill to see a tree and a woman with long black hair was wearing a red dress, she turned and smiled at the Silver Surfer.

"Shalla," Silver Surfer said, his voice husky with emotion.

"Hello, Norrin," Shalla said, sounding a lot like Piper, but no one really noticed.

A shimmer rolled over the Silver Surfer and he looked like a normal man again; bald, with tan skin and wearing a green suit with a red sash around his waist. Then Silver Surfer walked up the hill to hold his wife's hands, then he kissed them.

"I miss you so much," he told the moving picture of his wife.

Imaginary Shalla freed one of her hands from Silver Surfer's grip and placed it on his cheek. Silver Surfer leaned into his imaginary wife's hand, "I miss you too," She said.

"I'm so sorry, I wish I could have done more. I wish—"

Imaginary Shalla placed a finger over his lips to interrupt him, then drew him in close for a hug, "You couldn't have known, my love. You carry the burden of so many deaths on your shoulders, so please, don't blame yourself for our planet. I don't blame you."

The Silver Surfer's eyes grew misty as he tried to stop himself from crying, but the tears flowed anyways as he held on tight to Imaginary Shalla.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I know," Imaginary Shalla said.

As Silver Surfer continued to cry, Imaginary Shalla said, "I know we've been apart for centuries, but I believe we'll see each other again. It may not be now, and it may not be tomorrow, and it may not be for another century, but know that I'm searching for you and that I love you."

"I love you too, Shalla," Silver Surfer said.

Piper was starting to feel like she was fading away and the grassy farmlands and the serine sky were dissolving into black.

Imaginary Shalla then said, "Please, just promise me. Promise me you'll be the good person that I know that you are. I know it's hard, but please, promise me."

"I promise," he said.

Then everything went black.

# # #

When Piper woke up, she was looking up into the ceiling of a hospital room, and into the faces of a hovering Venom and Toxin. A heart monitor echoed in the room as the sound of quiet doctors walked by the closed door. Piper reached out her hands to Venom and Toxin and they group hugged. Piper tried to say something, but Venom interrupted her.

"Shhh, don't talk, you've been in a coma for almost three weeks," Venom explained.

"We were worried you weren't ever going to wake up again," Toxin added.

Piper tried to say something again but then Venom interrupted her again.

"It's July 10th," Venom informed her.

Piper nodded her head. Not really wanted to think. Piper then looked around, seeing if she could find a window to look through. She found her window but was spooked to find the Silver Surfer floating outside her window. Giving Piper a mini heart attack. Both Venom and Toxin hissed at the Silver Surfer as he fazed through the solid glass and brick. His normally stoic face seemed twinge with a mixture of awkwardness, guilt, and sadness. He was standing there, and he looked like he didn't know what to do so Piper pointed at a chair and motioned for him to sit down.

"Ah. Thank you," he said as he pulled up a chair next to her hospital bed.

The silence continued. Piper didn't feel like talking all that much, so she just let the Silver Surfer stew in his own silence as she rested her head on the pillow. After ten minutes the Silver Surfer spoke.

"It may be worthless, coming from me, but… I'm sorry. For what I did to you. To your mother. And to your symbiotes," Silver Surfer stated sincerely.

"She doesn't need your apologies," Venom stated, venomously.

"Yah, go jump off a bridge or something," Toxin added.

Piper laid a gentle hand on top of Toxin and Venom's heads then said in a strained echo-y voice, "Thank you for your apology. I appreciate the fact that you are sorry."

Silver Surfer continued to sit in the chair.

"Is there something else you wanted to talk about," Piper managed to croak out.

"…Do… Do you really think Shalla doesn't blame me for the destruction of our planet?" Silver Surfer asked.

"I would think not," Piper stated confidently, "I don't think anyone from your planet, other than a complete asshole, would ever blame you."

A sad smile graced Silver Surfer's face.

"I should apologize too," Piper stated.

"For what," Venom interjected, surprised.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Toxin stated.

Ignoring them Piper said, "I'm sorry for making Imaginary Shalla. It was probably cruel of me to do that to you."

Silver Surfer raised his hand and shook his head, "No. Please, don't be sorry. Even though your Imaginary Shalla wasn't my Shalla, it still felt good to have her there. Even if it was all just pretend."

When the Silver Surfer uttered the last word of his sentence, tears started to roll down his face. Piper reached out her hand for the Silver Surfer to hold and he didn't refuse.


	25. Fresh Start: Lady Pontiff's Return

            The sudden flash of light blinded Dr. Octavius as he struggled in the chair he was tied up to. His extra metal limbs were dangling on the ceiling across from him. Dr. Octavius couldn’t help but feel sorry for himself that he just managed to escape from prison two months ago, only to be captured by some random robot. Then Dr. Octavius heard someone walking into the cold, concrete room he was being held in from the right. The person who walked into the light was a woman with blond hair and was wearing a well-worn floral print dress.

            “So, you caught me. What now,” Dr. Octavius asked.

            The blond woman snapped her fingers and the robot that captured him appeared and made itself into a chair. She sat down.

            “The name’s Pontiff—”

            “The mutant raciest lady,” Dr. Octavius interrupted.

            “I’d prefer to call myself a purist, but yes, if that’ll help you recognize me,” Pontiff replied.

            “Listen, I admire your technological knowhow with the Sentinels you’ve created, but I’m also friends with a lot of mutants and I’d rather not associate myself with you for their sakes,” Dr. Octavius stated.

            “Now, hold on, hold on, hold on, Dr. Octavius,” Pontiff said getting up from her chair, “you’ve got to understand that, we can benefit from each other.”

            “Oh, I’m sure,” Dr. Octavius said sarcastically.

            “Word has it that you got humiliated, destroyed by an alien and a girl who bonded with it,” Pontiff stated.

            Dr. Octavius sighed, “Don’t remind me.”

            “I found out that she’s a mutant,” Pontiff added.

            Dr. Octavius thought for a moment, then said out loud, “I wonder if that was what made her so compatible with the alien.”

            Pontiff smiled slightly then said, “I too, am a victim of that wretched alien but it was bonded with a different human being. And I know that he wasn’t a mutant.”

            Dr. Octavius thought for a moment again, then said out loud, “Well if that’s true, what made the alien so compatible with the man. They’re two different people. There must be something about them both that makes them work best with the alien.”

            “Yes, it’s quite an interesting dilemma,” Pontiff stated while looking at her fingernails.

            Dr. Octavius frowned at Pontiff, “I’m not stupid. I know you’re trying to manipulate this into your favor.”

            “I found out that the alien has spawned itself a “child”, so to speak,” Pontiff stated, ignoring his commit.

            “It what,” Dr. Octavius said, shaking in the chair he was tied to, “that’s horrifying and fascinating.”

            “You know. I can help you get your test subject back and that would be revenge enough for me on that thing, but I’m going to need a little help from you,” Pontiff explained as she walked behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, “All of my previous secret labs aren’t so secret anymore and were destroyed, but you still have yours. And I can also give your extra limbs over there an upgrade of my specialty. If you help me get the man who ruined my life and let me have that mutant girl, that the alien is bonded with.”

            Dr. Octavius thought about it, “I’m going to have to hold on to the man and mutant girl for a while thought, so I can perform my tests on them. I have to know why they’re so compatible with that thing.”

            Pontiff untied him and said, “It’s a deal.”

# # #

            Piper was laying in her hospital bed, talking to Spider-Man on her phone.

            “Again, we’re sorry we had to cancel our date tonight. We were really looking forward to it,” Piper said, her voice echoing.

            “I’m sorry too,” Spider-Man said, “But it’s for the best. You survived being mentally violated by a celestial being.”

            Piper sighed, “You would have looked so handsome and cute in that suit you showed me.”

            “I know, right,” Spider-Man said, “And I think your dress would have looked lovely on you.”

            “We know, right,” Piper giggled.

            “Are your parents still going,” Spider-Man asked.

            “Yah, they promised themselves that they would go since there’s such little support for the mutant community right now,” Piper stated.

            “Mmm,” Spider-Man said.

            “Hey, will you come and visit us,” Piper asked. Then she shushed the other line as a doctor walked by. Then whispering, “Sorry, we don’t really trust the doctors and nurses except for Dr. Bava, but he’s only one man, and it would be nice to have more people coming over.”

            “Who else is coming,” Spider-Man asked.

Piper said, “Rick is coming to visit too. Or maybe you know him as A-Bomb.”

“Oh, yah. I remember you telling me about him,” Spider-Man said, “Sure. I’ll come over. Where’s the hospital and which floor are you on.”

“We’ll text it to you,” Piper stated.

# # #

            Lady Pontiff sauntered into the Stark’s Little Apple Hospital and walked up to the clerk again.

            “Hello, Ms. Pontiff,” the clerk greeted warmly, “Here to see your son again.”

            “Yes,” Lady Pontiff stated, “I’m just so worried. Not only is he sick, but I’m worried that he’s in danger.”

            “I’m sorry you feel that way about your son,” the clerk said sympathetically, “But we have the best security team.”

            Lady Pontiff leaned in close, over the counter, “But can they handle mutant attacks.”

            “…Not, entirely,” the clerk mumbled.

            Lady Pontiff then noticed that the young clerk’s eyes had widened from spotting something behind her. Turning around, Lady Pontiff saw a giant blue monster crouch through the sliding doors. In its hands, the blue giant held flowers and a get well soon balloon. Both women stared as the blue giant monster walked up to the counter.

            “Hi, my name’s Rick Banner,” it said, “I’m here to visit a Piper Thatcher.”

            Voice trembling, she said, “Do you know which floor she’s on?”

            Nodding its head, it said, “Yes, Ma’am.”

            “Then sign this and you can go,” the clerk stated fearfully as she handed the blue monster the clip board.

            It awkwardly signed it then asked, “Can you point me to the stairs?”

            Wordlessly the clerk pointed to the left of her.

            “Have a nice day, ladies,” it said before lumbering away.

            Both women were silent for a moment then the clerk spoke first.

            “I’ll call for security to keep an eye on him,” the clerk said to Lady Pontiff reassuringly.

            “Thank you, I’m going to go visit with my son now,” Lady Pontiff said while she signed the clip board before she started walking towards the elevator.

            Once she was inside the elevator and the door was closed Lady Pontiff frowned to herself. She couldn’t help but think of how much harder it was going to be with that lumbering oaf in the way of her revenge. She got out her phone and contacted Dr. Octavius to inform him of the situation.

# # #

            “Rick,” Piper greeted, “You brought us a balloon!”

            Rick squeezed through the hospital door, then closed the door behind him.

            “Honestly I thought you would notice the flowers first,” Rick stated, handing the balloon to Piper and setting the flowers down on the bed side table.

            “Well, they’re lovely too,” Piper said giving them a sideways glance as she started to play with the balloon with Venom and Toxin.

            “Are you keeping them hidden from the staff and what not,” Rick asked as he made himself comfortable on the floor.

            Piper threw him two of her four pillows and said, “Yah, except for this one janitor guy and Dr. Bava. The janitor seems nice. Told me he has a daughter who’s a mutant too.”

            “And the whole hospital knows you’re a mutant,” Rick asked.

            “Yah, it was unavoidable. Apparently while I was in my coma, I was really gelatinous and I kinda just oozed. Like I was still solid whenever someone touched me, but then I would ooz again. We think it was because Toxin and Venom were out cold too.”

            “Ha! Like cornstarch and water,” Rick exclaimed.

            The Piper Squad’s hospital door opened, the symbiotes hid, and a hospital guard poked his head inside. Piper and Rick waved at him.

            “Can we help you sir,” Piper asked.

            The guard seemed to glare at Rick the most, then closed the door again.

            “What was that about,” Rick asked as he sat on the pillows.

            “I don’t know. Despite this being Stark’s hospital everyone seems really distrusting of people like you and me,” Piper said as Venom and Toxin appeared out of her body again to play with the balloon, “Also, we don’t think they like the way my voice echoes.”

            “Did we tell him about the other guest,” Toxin asked.

            “Other guest,” Rick asked.

            “No, because it was suppose to be a surprise, Toxin,” Piper sighed.

            “I’m pretty sure we talked about this,” Venom contemplated.

            “Well, who is it,” Rick asked.

            “It’s a surprise,” Piper said, wagging a finger at him.

            “It’s Spider-Man,” Rick said flatly.

            “What, but – I,” Piper stumbled over her words.

            Then Piper looked behind her to where Rick was pointing and saw Spider-Man’s masked face poking through the corner of the window. He waved.

            “Huh,” was all Piper said as she got out of bed and opened the window, “You know, you’re very lucky this hospital doesn’t have a high suicide count.”

            As Spider-Man crawled in through the window he said, “What does that have to do with open—Oh, never mind,” then he said, “Good to see that you un-swallowed the Time Stone.”

            Piper scoffed as she closed the window, “I have like 95% control over my body, swallowing random objects means nothing to me.”

            The Piper squad jumped from Rick suddenly choking on air while Spider-Man awkwardly looked away from her. Piper decided not to question it.

            Piper then watched as Rick and Spider-Man introduced themselves to each other. Piper thought that they seemed to get along nicely. Piper and Spider-Man then sat on her hospital bed together when Piper’s flip phone started to ring.

            “Oh, the dinner party thing must be starting,” Piper said as she picked up her phone from the bed side table. Piper downloaded a picture from the sent text, that was from her mother. The picture showed a lot of random people in fancy clothing, but the vocal point was T’Challa and Lunella standing together smiling at the camera. Piper showed them the picture.

            Spider-Man slapped his forehead, “Oh, before I forget,” Spider-Man then pulled a box out of his many pockets and gave it to Piper, “It got to my house before I could cancel it and I didn’t want it to go to waste so I hope you like it.”

            Piper opened the box to reveal an orange, white, and yellow corsage that would have matched her dress.

            “Awe, how adorable,” Rick said.

            “It is,” Piper agreed as she sat it next to the bouquet of flowers, “Thank you.”

            “No problem,” Spider-Man stated, “but I’ve been meaning to ask, why don’t you use the Time Stone?”

            “Use the Time Stone for what,” Piper asked.

            “Well, it’s Time Magic, right,” Spider-Man stated, “Can’t you just freeze time for you to heal yourself or speed up your healing prosses or something like that?”

            “Can it do that,” Rick asked.

            “It can,” Piper stated as she twisted the Time Stone on her neck around her fingers, “But it’s a machine, not magic. I only knew how to use it when I had the Mind Stone too and it doesn’t help that I’m scared to use it.”

            Before the three of them could elaborate more on the subject the hospital door was kicked open, revealing Eddie Brock.

            “I came as fast as I could,” Eddie said, looking like he was ready to fight.

            “Why?” Piper asked, “You and the other Super-Agents already know I’m here.”

            “Didn’t you call for my help,” Eddie asked, “Saying you needed me to hold on to Venom while you recover?”

            Piper shook her head as the three men around her got into a fighting position with Venom and Toxin surrounding Piper making her look like a buff man called Venomous Toxin.

            Venomous Toxin asked, “Who would want to trick you into coming here, Eddie?”

            “Excuse me,” a little boy’s voice squeaked.

            Everyone turned to look at the entrance way to see a blond haired, blue eyed boy in floral pajamas.

            “Have you seen my Mommy,” The little boy asked.

            Piper couldn’t help but think, awe, at seeing this little boy. Through Venomous Toxin, Piper was about to walk up to the little guy but then she was held back by Spider-Man; Piper could see that his spider senses were tingling. Then metal claws burst through the window, trying to grab at Spider-Man and chaos ensued. Piper, through Venomous Toxin, went to the little boy to protect him, but the little boy wrapped a mutant suppressant necklace around Venomous Toxin that cut down through them to fit around Piper’s neck. Then the little boy’s right hand turned into a flame thrower. Venomous Toxin dispersed as the robotic boy threw his flames at them. Piper was exposed and while trying to avoid the flames tripped backwards and hit the back of her head against the corner of the bed side table. Then everything went dark for Piper.

# # #

            Piper woke up feeling immense pain and hearing Venom and Toxin screaming over a loud soprano sound. Piper’s eyesight was blurry and blinded by white light and she tired to move but she felt that her arms and legs were tied down by thick metal cuffs. Piper then realized that the pain she was feeling was Venom and Toxin resisting the vibrations of the loud sound and trying to stay connected to her.

            Struggling in the metal cuffs Piper yelled, “Hold on guys! Hold on! I’ll get us out of here!”

            But she couldn’t do anything, and Venom and Toxin were ripped away from her from by the vibrations. Then everything became silent, not because Piper blacked out, but because the prosses was over. Piper felt herself being moved like she was on a crane, then she was placed in a dark room, still cuffed down to the metal bed she was on.

            Fighting from tearing up Piper spoked to herself out loud while taking deep breaths, “Okay, you’re in a lab and you’re wearing a mutant suppressor, you’ve trained for this. What do the cuffs feel like?”

            Piper bent her wrists as far as she could to get a feeling for the cuffs. She couldn’t feel any kind of lock on them but if she broke her thumbs she could slip out of the cuffs and figure out how to get her feet out later. She was about to start when the lights around her turned on and she could barely hear voices talking. A metal claw swept over her as Doc Ock walked across the other side of the room. Piper growled to herself, realizing that the sound room she was in affected her hearing. Then a blond woman with blue eyes appeared above her and she grabbed Piper’s face to move side to side.

            Muffled, the blond lady said, “You don’t look as monstrous with those aliens gone now.”

            Piper pulled her face away from her grip and tried to bite her.

            Muffled, the blond lady laughed, “Awe, aren’t you scary,” she said before she booped Piper on the nose.

            More muffled than the blond lady, Doc Ock said, “You’re in the way, Pontiff.”

            Then Doc Ock forced Piper’s mouth open and swabbed her cheek and placed it in a cap-able plastic tube. Then Doc Ock produced two needles from his metal claws; the longest one was thicker and looked like it was made to suck stuff up the other needle wasn’t as long but was thinner, also looking like it was made to suck stuff up. Panicking at the sight of the needles Piper tried using her super strength to get out of the metal cuffs but couldn’t. Doc Ock placed a metal claw on Piper’s head to force her to stay still.

            Muffled, Doc Ock said, “Don’t move if you want it to hurt less.”

            Doc Ock then pulled down one half of Piper’s pajama bottoms to reveal her left hip, then he stuck the thick needle into her hip and broke into the bone. The pain was unbearable and the tears that Piper was holding back flooded her cheeks as she screamed. As Piper cried, she watched as the red marrow was extracted from her into a plastic tube. Finished, Doc Ock placed a band-aid over the puncture wound and pulled up her pants. Then he lifted her head up by her long brown hair and inserted the thinner needle into her neck to get to the spinel fluid. Again, the pain was excruciating but all Piper could do was cry and hope it wouldn’t last long.

            Finally, Doc Ock was finished, and Piper realized that she could hear better when Doc Ock said, “Don’t do anything to her yet, I still have some questions for her when I come back.” He placed a band-aid on her neck before walking away.

            “Oh, we’ll just have some girl talk while you’re putting your samples away,” the blonde lady stated as she jumped up to sit on the metal table Piper was strapped to.

            Then Doc Ock was gone.

            Piper took deep breaths, focusing on calming down and getting a good look around her surroundings. Only the immediate area was completely white. Beyond the white was gray machinery and sanitary items. In front, hanging in the middle of the lab, was a glass orb holding Venom and Toxin, who were beating against the glass towards her, trying to get to Piper.

            “They’re really trying their best to get out to you, aren’t they,” the blonde lady stated.

            Piper just glared at her.

            “My, what a look,” the blonde lady chuckled, “you’ll make a fantastic Sentinel, I think.”

            Piper’s glare dropped as she shrink-ed away from the blonde lady as best she could. The blonde lady laughed.

            “I’ve actually made a new type of Sentinel, just so it could use your powers to the best of its abilities, you should be honored,” she said.

            “What? No, I’m not honored,” Piper finally said, “Why would I be honored to be boiled down into biological goo and have my powers used to help you.”

            “You must realize that you and your kind are abominations to God’s image,” the Blonde Lady stated, “the least you could do is help get rid of them.”

            Piper’s eyes widened in realization, “Wait, you’re the Pontiff, aren’t you?”

            Pontiff smiled, “So you finally recognize me.”

            “No,” Piper stated plainly. Remembering all the times she’s seen Pontiff in the comics being a man always covered on Pope clothes.

            Pontiff frowned at Piper, confused, when Doc Ock came back.

            “Go, set up your equipment, and please, don’t kill black spandex guy until I’ve questioned him,” Doc Ock said.

            Pontiff jumped down from the metal table and said, “Please, I’m a patient woman. I can wait until you’re satisfied with your questions.” As she walked away and out of the room they were in.

            “Brock is here?” Piper asked.

            “If that’s his name, then yes,” Doc Ock said as he picked up a clip board that was hanging from the foot of the metal table Piper was strapped to. Then he made his metal tentacles into a chair, got comfortable in it, got prepared to write into the clip board and said, “So, I’ve got a few questions for you.”

            “What makes you think I’m going to answer them,” Piper said defiantly, feeling brave from the knowledge that Brock was there with her, “You’re working with a genocidal racist.”

            Doc Ock sighed, “Yah, I wasn’t keen on partnering up with her, but my need to understand things,” He pointed at the struggling symbiotes behind him, “is a little stronger than my reservations of working with a racist.”

            Piper huffed at the lunacy. She had to get out of there. Breaking her hands and feet to get out of the metal cuffs would slow her down and she didn’t know how to use the Time Stone. She couldn’t wait until someone found them, her girlfriend and baby boy might die before that happens. Her only option was to try and us the Time Stone.

            “Alright, first question,” Doc Ock stated, “What was it like bonding with an alien?”

            “Scary,” Piper said as she focused her breathing and concentrated on the Time Stone around her neck. She tried to remember what it was like holding the Mind Stone and Time Stone at the same time and what the Mind Stone told her.

            “How do symbiotes reproduce,” Doc Ock asked, but slowly.

            “Asexually,” Piper said as she wriggled her hands in the cuffs, still focusing on the Time Stone.

            “Has… it told… you where… it came from…,” Doc Ock asked, even slower.

            Piper’s head was beginning to throb when she said, “Nope.” Then Piper pulled hard on her right hand and broke her thumb, whimpering she continued to focus on the Time Stone. Doc Ock’s speech was slowing down so much that she managed to break free from all of her cuffs before he finished his fourth question, breaking both of her thumbs and dislocated her ankles. She rolled off the metal bed onto the floor.

            The pain broke her concentration and time around her was speeding up again when she heard Doc Ock yell at her, again, Piper focused on the Time Stone as she crawled away, ignoring the pain in her head, hip, hands and feet. Doc Ock was slowing down again but his tentacles weren’t slowing down at the same rate as the man. Piper barely rolled out of the way of one of the metal tentacles trying to pin her down. Looking around, Piper managed to find the panel that was connected to the glass-looking sphere in the center of the lab. She crawled over to it quickly, still ignoring the pain and still focusing on the Time Stone. Piper pushed different buttons on the panel, but the glass-looking orb wasn’t budging.

            Doc Ock and his metal limbs had slowed down to a snail’s pace, but Piper wasn’t sure if she needed a special code to open the sphere or if it’s just taking forever to open because of her. Piper relocated her ankles, like how she was taught by Black Widow, while she still had the time. Standing now, Piper got the idea to speed up time on the containment unit. She focused her will on the Time Stone and focused her attention on the glass orb. Doc Ock was back to his normal speed but Piper could see that the metal around the glass orb was rusting away.

            “How are you doing that, we’re blocking your Mutant abilities,” Doc Ock said as he came after Piper.

            Piper didn’t answer as she then switched back to slowing down the Octopus Doctor. She could taste blood in her mouth, but she didn’t know if it was from a nosebleed or if her mouth was bleeding. Piper kept this up until the container was broken by Venom and Toxin beating on it from the inside. Piper dropped to her knees. Her head pounding and vision blurring. She was so relieved to have Venom and Toxin out of there. However, the two aliens didn’t immediately go to Piper, instead, they flung themselves at Doc Ock; attacking him like cartoonish feral cats.

            Doc Ock yelled and screeched as Piper fell to her hands, fighting the urge to pass out. She couldn’t move and she didn’t know what to do. She felt too weak to cry out to them. All she could do was cry to herself.

            Through the fighting, Piper could hear someone running up from behind her, but she didn’t care anymore, she just wanted to sleep.

            She then felt someone’s hand on her back and when she looked up, she saw that Brock was kneeling beside her with a severed robot arm in one hand. He looked like he was attacked by rabid dogs, but he looked like he could still fight. Piper could see stars at the corner of her eyes as he asked if she was alright. All she could do was look up at Doc Ock and her Symbiotes tearing him a part, blood was splashing everywhere.

            “Hey! Venom, Toxin, enough!” Brock yelled at them, then he used the robot arm to throw flames at them, “Look at her!”

            Toxin and Venom stopped and hissed at the fire, then Piper managed to lock eyes with them. Toxin and Venom slithered off Doc Ock as he was panting, his clawed tentacles being the only thing holding him up. The Symbiotes attentively went up to Piper and Venom asked, “May we?”

            Piper reached out a shaky hand to them and said, “Please.”

            As soon as the three of them merged, Piper passed out.


End file.
